Bombarding Cultivators with Cluster Artillery

Chapter 1355: Chapter 1323: The Deputy Governor of the Xianmen Sect

“Immortal Gate Banyan Tree TV Station:”

“Breaking news: Today (Year 15,000 January 1), the hero with illustrious battle merits and laden with honors, the Great Sun Heavenly Monarch, returns to Xianmen’s Mother Planet. The deputy governor, Canghai True Venerable, greeted him warmly, extending a grand welcome to the hero who expanded Xianmen Sect’s domain by conquering 155 Minor Thousand Worlds in the Horned Ming Realm.”

“Billions of citizens lined the streets to enthusiastically welcome him, their cheers shaking the planet itself, with the atmosphere trembling in waves. The purpose of this return was for the Great Sun Heavenly Monarch to succeed Canghai True Venerable, officially taking on the role of Deputy Governor to shoulder the heavy responsibility of guarding the Mother Planet.”

“The handover ceremony is currently underway, and our station is broadcasting it live for you.”

At this moment, it coincided with the Xianmen National Day, where tens of billions of citizens watched the television attentively via various devices, witnessing the official handover of the Deputy Governor position and the transition of authority over the Mother Planet Central Array Spirit Computer.

Many citizens found it rather peculiar as they stared unblinkingly.

The transition of the Deputy Governor was an exceedingly novel phenomenon for them. To 99.9% of Xianmen citizens, the Mother Planet’s Deputy Governor had always been Canghai True Venerable for over a millennium. Generations had grown familiar with this position, assuming it as immutable.

In the Immortal Gate Grand Hall.

Clad in ceremonial robes, Canghai True Venerable held the Immortal Gate Deputy Governor Seal with both hands, standing solemnly amidst the dignified and stately ceremonial music.

After a brief moment, the music slowed.

A slightly short teenager, around fifteen or sixteen years old, wearing ceremonial robes walked slowly onto the stage. His face still carried traces of youthful innocence as he took the seal from Canghai True Venerable’s hands.

“I solemnly swear…”

He began speaking, his voice clear and crisp.

“…”

Many citizens, watching the Xianmen Deputy Governor’s succession ceremony with admiration, were left stunned.

“So young?”

“Is this a mistake?”

“Looks like a middle schooler wandered onto the stage…”

Many were astonished.

The Great Sun Heavenly Monarch was someone they were familiar with, but no one expected his appearance to be so youthful. Without references in historical texts, it felt surreal.

“How adorable!”

“Looks like my little child at home…”

Many women showed gleaming affection in their eyes, nearly wanting to storm the Immortal Gate Grand Hall to scoop up the teenager and smother him with kisses.

Of course, these reactions predominantly came from ordinary citizens and Low-ranking Cultivators.

Cultivators above the Nascent Soul level held no such thoughts, carefully listening to the Great Sun Heavenly Monarch’s succession speech and extracting key information from his words.

“…Reformation is imperative.”

“…Citizenship population growth on Xianmen’s Mother Planet is equally imperative. Xianmen is a star-domain polity functioning across nearly two hundred Minor Thousand Worlds and nearly two hundred life-bearing planets, yet its population is only a few billion—does this seem reasonable?”

“This is a road to catastrophe!”

“Over the course of thousands or even tens of thousands of years, Xianmen’s overall strength will sharply decline, eventually facing the threat of annihilation once again.”

“Citizens, I understand many of you oppose any significant rise in population numbers, fearing the dilution of public welfare.”

“This is a fact—it is indeed true.”

“However, these newly added citizens aren’t falling from the sky. They are our children, our offspring, our close kin. What reason do we have not to share with them?”

“Within the domain, the cold and brutal reality of survival of the fittest prevails. Should Xianmen fall prey to dreams of fleeting comfort, as did those historic empires which succumbed to decadence and corruption, forgetting the principles of hardship and perseverance, our fate will be extinction.”

Population might drastically increase!

This particular keyword caused many High-Level Cultivators to tense inwardly.

The decision from Xianmen’s leadership was resolute, likely formed through consensus. Otherwise, the Great Sun Heavenly Monarch would not have delivered such statements during the Deputy Governor succession ceremony.

Words spoken in such settings reflected far more than individual opinion—they represented the stance of Xianmen itself.

Even the Great Sun Heavenly Monarch’s famed “Great Sun Divinity Transformation Strategy” was conspicuously absent, for its contentious nature made it unsuitable for public discussion at such ceremonial proceedings.

Population increases!

Many High-Level Cultivators in Xianmen almost instantaneously calculated the profound impacts such a policy would have on their positions.

The lifespans of ordinary citizens rarely exceeded a century or two, leaving negligible population growth within their lived years. Yet High-Level Cultivators, with their lengthy lifespans, would inevitably witness the full rise of competition brought about by younger cultivators.”

…

The succession ceremony carried on for several days.

After the ceremony concluded, Canghai True Venerable almost immediately launched himself out of the Grand Hall, hurrying into his planet-level warship, transforming into a streak of light as he rushed towards the Super Transmission Array.

“Jiang Ding, buddy, I’m heading off first!”

“It has been over a millennium since I last saw my elder brother!”

Canghai True Venerable’s voice echoed: “He’s grown so unaccustomed without his little brother—who knows how much he’s struggled. You don’t need to see me off; focus on guarding the Mother Planet. If a Harmonization-level enemy attacks, implement emergency procedures immediately. Sigh, Xianmen is still poor; the Mother Planet needs a seventh-order formation.”

“Elder Canghai, safe journey,”

Jiang Ding bid farewell beside the Super Transmission Array, just as the Divine Mechanism Heavenly Monarch once did when sending cultivators off on their campaigns.

“You too,”

Canghai True Venerable’s final voice lingered, and the warship vanished amidst the overwhelming light of the Transmission Array.

Jiang Ding’s figure, too, faded away.

At that moment, the Great Sun Heavenly Pond descended towards the Mother Planet’s surface, guided by layer upon layer of Formation lights, gradually settling into the Xianmen Deputy Governor’s office.

This would be Jiang Ding’s place of residence for the next millennia.

Jiang Ding glanced around.

This office spanned about the size of a Minor Thousand World, positioned at the core of the Mother Planet’s numerous formations, where the computational power of the Central Array Spirit Computer was concentrated.

Here, it boasted the Mother Planet’s finest cultivation conditions, suitable even for Refining Void cultivators. Comparable to the environments Immortal Sect Great Powers experienced during their Void Refinement stage.

On top of that, it provided exclusive access privileges to enlightenment studies, Central Array Spirit computation power, priority allocations of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, mobilization rights to various national-level laboratories, and so on.

As the Deputy Governor of Xianmen, the cultivation resources available were of the absolute highest quality, envied even by those at Refining Void Peak.

However, for Jiang Ding, who had amassed numerous battle merits, these perks were inconsequential. What he needed, he could already obtain without relying on the position.

Guarding the Mother Planet was more of an obligation.

“Deputy Governor, these are documents submitted by various departments requiring your signature,”

The Gu Lin Heavenly Monarch walked in, carrying a mountain-like stack of physical, paper-based files, and reported.

The Gu Lin Heavenly Monarch now served as Secretary-General of the Deputy Governor’s office—a position not appointed by Jiang Ding. He lacked the authority to do so; this was designated by the Xianmen Citizens Assembly to ensure balance and limitations.

The documents requiring Jiang Ding’s signature predominantly encompassed extraordinarily critical matters, affecting the lives of billions across multiple Minor Thousand Worlds. Hence, physical files were archived alongside electronic records within the Central Array Spirit Computer to ensure mutual verification.