How could he not feel flustered and filled with fear? After all, this mountain peak was incredibly high...
Xu Zhengyang naturally knew Chen Chaojiang's current thoughts and intentions, but he didn't say anything. Gradually, he would get used to it, and his mindset would calm down. Xu Zhengyang thought to himself, "When I first became a god, wasn't I just as at a loss, sometimes proud and complacent, and sometimes slightly fearful and worried?"
Walking into the living room and sitting on the sofa, Xu Zhengyang took out a cigarette, lit it, and casually placed the cigarette case and lighter on the coffee table, gesturing for Chen Chaojiang to take it and smoke it himself.
Chen Chaojiang poured Xu Zhengyang a cup of tea first, then stood aside without lighting a cigarette.
"Sit down! Look at you, so pathetic!" Xu Zhengyang said with a smile, scolding him.
"Hmm." Chen Chaojiang realized his lapse in composure, a hint of embarrassment flashing in his eyes, before sitting down on the sofa next to him.
Xu Zhengyang waved his hand. Li Haidong, dressed in the attire of a ghost messenger, appeared out of thin air beside the sofa on the other side, bowed slightly to Xu Zhengyang, and said, "My lord!"
"Sit down," Xu Zhengyang said calmly.
"Yes." Li Haidong sat down on the sofa.
Chen Chaojiang, who had just sat down on the sofa, sat ramrod straight, his narrow eyes flashing with a cold light, revealing a mixture of surprise and wariness. He instinctively sensed the chilling aura emanating from Li Haidong, which made him feel very dangerous. At the same time, thanks to Xu Zhengyang's prior instructions, Chen Chaojiang clearly saw Li Haidong's face.
Surprise, confusion, and a heightened sense of urgency... all of this brought Chen Chaojiang to a state of heightened readiness, every muscle in his body tense!
Xu Zhengyang remained silent, calmly looking at Chen Chaojiang.
To catch him off guard, we need to see how long it takes Chen Chaojiang to accept and adapt to this situation, to suppress his chaotic emotions, and to return to normal.
As expected, Chen Chaojiang quickly regained his composure, at least outwardly, erasing his unusual emotions and retaining his usual cold expression. His narrow eyes remained as icy as ever, devoid of any warmth or human emotion. Xu Zhengyang had already informed him of Li Haidong's appearance, and he had anticipated this scenario.
Xu Zhengyang nodded in satisfaction and said, "I called you all here today so you can get to know each other. As the saying goes, humans and ghosts are on different paths, but since you'll be colleagues from now on, you'll be seeing each other often. Don't put too much pressure on yourselves when you're working together..."
"Sir, what is this? He's just an ordinary person," Li Haidong asked, puzzled.
"It's alright, I also have a physical body." Xu Zhengyang waved his hand, looked at Li Haidong, and said calmly, "In the past few years, you have become familiar with the working system and way of doing things of the City God's Office. Now... I'm going to bestow an official title upon you."
"Hmm?" Li Haidong trembled slightly, looking at Xu Zhengyang in surprise.
Xu Zhengyang said, "There's no need to doubt it. I'm granting you an official position, which means you'll be a deity from now on."
"this……"
"Your official position is Chief Judge of the City God's Office. Well, you are currently the Chief Judge of all twenty-three City God's Offices, a sixth-rank position. In addition, you also serve as Acting Sergeant of the State God's Office, a fifth-rank position." Xu Zhengyang stated his position very directly.
Li Haidong stood there stunned for a long while, then rose with trepidation. He bowed deeply and said, "What merit or ability do I possess..."
"Alright, enough with the pleasantries." Xu Zhengyang didn't let Li Haidong continue, and said, "The position of Chief Judge of the City God's Office is very important. You will be in charge of the work of the ghost messengers of each City God's Office in the human world. As for what kind of work that is, I don't need to explain it to you in detail. You should understand, right?"
"Yes." Although Li Haidong no longer bowed deeply, he still bowed slightly.
Xu Zhengyang took out the self-made jade city scroll with his left hand, and gently touched the city scroll with his right index finger. A divine power emanated from his finger and seeped into the city scroll. At the same time, his mental power also injected a divine consciousness into the city scroll to restrain the holder, completely controlling the entire city scroll.
Then, Xu Zhengyang gently released his left hand forward, and the city scroll transformed into a stream of light that instantly entered Li Haidong's brow and disappeared.
Li Haidong felt a scalding sensation invade his brain, which quickly transformed into an incredibly comfortable warm current that spread throughout his body.
"This is a city scroll bestowed upon you. Through it, you can learn about the major and minor affairs of each city god's mansion. It can also be used to contact the ghost messengers of each city god's mansion, and you can summon them to your side at any time." Xu Zhengyang explained briefly, and then said, "With this city scroll, your future work will be more convenient... As for the divine power and authority you possess, you can naturally learn about it through the city scroll after you return."
"Yes." Li Haidong bowed again, hesitated for a moment, and finally knelt down. "Thank you for your trust, sir."
"Don't thank me, don't let me down." Xu Zhengyang waved his hand, his voice serious and deep.
Li Haidong slowly stood up, no longer sitting down, but standing there quietly with his head bowed.
Sitting to the side, Chen Chaojiang watched this scene with growing shock. My God, what official position does Zheng Yang hold? How come he was the one who bestowed the divine title upon Elder Li? And that divine artifact, it's too powerful! Elder Li just now actually knelt before Zheng Yang!
Oh, he also served as the chief judge of the City God's Palace, overseeing twenty-three City God's Palaces, and was also a steward and clerk in some prefecture God's Palace...
Even if Chen Chaojiang didn't understand clerical positions, he could roughly guess from the vocabulary how important these positions were, and at least how large the areas they governed were.
So what official position does Zheng Yang hold? Does he possibly rule the entire world?
Otherwise, how could they be so successful in Western countries?
Just as he was thinking about these things, he heard Xu Zhengyang's voice ring out again: "Chaojiang, I've already told you and shown you what I wrote. What else is there to doubt? Now listen to the announcement."
"Ah." Chen Chaojiang hurriedly stood up, thinking in a panic, "Do I have to kneel too?"
Before he could decide whether to kneel, Xu Zhengyang said, "You and I are both made of flesh, so as gods in the future, you should pay more attention to your influence and not act recklessly just because you hold a divine position."
“Yes, yes…” Chen Chaojiang’s heart could not calm down.
"Your position is Inspector of the Spirits of the State God's Office, with an official rank of sixth grade." Xu Zhengyang's expression remained calm, but his voice carried a solemn and ethereal quality. "The Inspector of the Spirits is responsible for supervising and reviewing the conduct of the ghost messengers in the twenty-three City God's Offices, as well as all living beings in the territory, especially the good and evil deeds of people. As for the tasks I need to do, I have already written them down for you in advance, so I don't need to explain them further, right?"
Chen Chaojiang nodded quickly and said, "Yes, I know."
Xu Zhengyang waved his hand and summoned a dark, heavy, blunt sword with a blade over two feet long. He casually tossed it, and a black streak of light flashed as it shot straight towards the center of Chen Chaojiang's brow.
Startled, Chen Chaojiang instinctively did a backflip to dodge, but he was not fast enough. After falling to the ground, a burning pain still came from between his eyebrows... He was hit. The two words flashed through Chen Chaojiang's mind. Then he stood up nimbly and stood up straight.
"Useless! What are you so nervous about?" Xu Zhengyang said coldly, then raised his right index finger and pointed it at Chen Chaojiang from a distance. A golden light that could be seen with the naked eye shot into Chen Chaojiang's brow again.
As the warmth flowed into his body, Chen Chaojiang felt a familiar yet strange sense of comfort... Was it an orgasm?
"The Soul-Slaying Sword can slay ghosts, even ghost messengers; it can also directly sever the souls of those who are not yet dead, causing their souls to be severely injured and leave their bodies." Xu Zhengyang narrowed his eyes and commanded with great authority, "Remember, do not act recklessly... You two, in the future, you should discuss things more often, and if there are any difficult decisions, you can come to me for a decision."
"yes."
Li Haidong and Chen Chaojiang responded in unison.
"Chaojiang, in the future, if it's inconvenient, your divine sense can leave your body and enter the city's records to discuss matters, just like Judge Li. Oh, and by the way, don't be afraid of ghosts. From now on, you are a deity! Understand?"
"Yes." Chen Chaojiang nodded seriously, then, as if remembering something, he hurriedly knelt down on one knee.
Xu Zhengyang got up and walked out, saying, "Nonsense, get up! Don't do this when you're not in the State God's Mansion and can't help but frighten others."
Volume Six, Chapter 320: Better safe than sorry
Li Haidong and Chen Chaojiang have been deified.
Xu Zhengyang didn't need to explain it to them explicitly; the two newly appointed deities naturally understood what a great favor this was, and that their official rank was quite high...
Therefore, Li Haidong was deeply impressed, completely captivated by Xu Zhengyang's magnanimity and spirit, and filled with awe and admiration for the speed of Xu Zhengyang's promotion. He knew very well that Xu Zhengyang had previously been just a City God, and even earlier, when he first met this young man, his official rank was even lower. Now, however, he was a dignified Prefecture God, in charge of twenty-three cities, including three municipalities directly under the central government, two sub-provincial cities, and several cities that ranked among the top in the country.
Li Haidong could hardly believe his own judgment in judging people. What kind of person was Xu Zhengyang?
If we consider things from Li Haidong's perspective, why do the gods of the heavens favor Xu Zhengyang so much, entrusting him with such an important task and allowing him to rise to such a high position like a rocket?
Those gods in Heaven are far more accurate in judging people than Li Haidong is, aren't they?
Chen Chaojiang's heart was filled with excitement for days, unable to find complete peace. Even when he accompanied Ye Wan for evening strolls and chats, he would occasionally drift off into thought, glancing at the occasional, forlorn ghosts on the streets, unable to reunite with their families…
However, who knows that after being deified, Xu Zhengyang often shook his head helplessly, lamenting the changes in his own character?
The saying goes, "The higher you climb, the colder it gets," and "A lonely person is all alone." Only now... has Xu Zhengyang truly felt this way and understood the meaning behind these two sentences.
Xu Zhengyang felt he was being hypocritical, but he had no choice but to be.
I was selfish, but I had no choice but to be selfish!
Strictly speaking, neither Li Haidong nor Chen Chaojiang can be considered an absolute deity, as the gods he has appointed this time are deities.
When bestowing divine artifacts upon the gods, Xu Zhengyang added a hidden trick. Using the method provided by the Records of the Nine Provinces, along with the authority of his own divine office, he actually erased the authority of Li Haidong and Chen Chaojiang, as gods, to increase their divine power through the amplification of faith.
This is also a policy implemented by the later emperors and heavenly emperors after they established divine institutions on earth, as recorded in the Heavenly Court's historical records.
The purpose is to prevent lower-ranking deities from infinitely increasing their divine power, which could lead to loss of control and bloated institutions.
However, these policies were not perfectly implemented because some high-ranking deities in Heaven were not bound by them, and the Heavenly Emperor and the Emperor himself dared not impose strict rules on their subordinates. As a result, every god harbored selfish desires, using their immense power or even their own influence to petition the Heavenly Emperor and the Emperor for leniency, allowing someone to be promoted when their divine power was sufficient.
At that time, there were also various powerful and unparalleled deities who were not bound by the Heavenly Court. These included demons and monsters, and apart from their communication with the Heavenly Court through the two great artifacts of the Heavenly Laws and the Underworld, the deities were already outwardly united but inwardly estranged.
Inevitably, a great war broke out for the struggle for supreme power.
Well, I won't go into those details.
The methods Xu Zhengyang used in this conferment of godhood differed from those employed by the Heavenly Court in the past.
At that time, the lower-ranking gods absorbed the power of faith. Then, because the lower-ranking gods were bound by the Heavenly Laws and their own divine artifacts, the excess divine power converted from the power of faith was naturally absorbed by the higher-ranking gods. This continued until the highest-ranking emperors and celestial rulers enjoyed the most divine power.
Xu Zhengyang's method was completely different. Li Haidong and Chen Chaojiang did not have the authority to draw upon the power of faith. They could exercise the power of gods and gain more people's faith, but not a single drop of the power of faith would be bestowed upon them; it would all go to Xu Zhengyang.
Because Xu Zhengyang is the only deity listed in the Heavenly Laws and the Divine Artifacts of the Nine Provinces.
As for the divine power needed by Chen Chaojiang and Li Haidong, it was provided to them by Xu Zhengyang. Of course, Li Haidong and Chen Chaojiang were unaware of this.
In this way, Xu Zhengyang could cut off their divine power supply at any time, rendering their divine positions and abilities meaningless.
Well, to put it simply, the biggest difference between the deity Xu Zhengyang and the deities Li Haidong and Chen Chaojiang is not their rank, but the fundamental difference between a police officer and a community defense team member.
so……
Xu Zhengyang inwardly felt hypocritically guilty about his hypocrisy and selfishness.
That's a bit of a tongue twister.
Better safe than sorry, we must be careful!
Xu Zhengyang could only hope that Li Haidong and Chen Chaojiang wouldn't harbor any rebellious thoughts. At the same time, he needed to keep a close eye on them from time to time to prevent them from having any disobedient intentions.
With the addition of two trusted deities, Li Haidong and Chen Chaojiang, and with Li Haidong possessing the divine artifact City Scroll, he could easily receive relevant information from below and quickly make decisions. The work efficiency of the various City God's offices had significantly improved, and the number of ghost messengers arranged in each City God's office could also be increased appropriately. In any case, with two deities specifically here to keep watch and supervise, there was no fear that the ghost messengers would cause trouble.
Inevitably, some ghost messengers might do something outrageous, and they would immediately be summoned back to the City God's Palace by Li Haidong. The supervising spirit official would then personally cut them into pieces with the Soul-Slaying Sword, leaving them to be taken away by the Underworld.
During this period, after Li Haidong and Chen Chaojiang gradually became familiar with the work of this deity, Xu Zhengyang set a key work goal for them!
We must crack down hard on those who commit fraud and extortion! In particular, those who deceive and exploit the kindness of the public must be severely punished!
For example, lazy and shameless people who are capable of working but deliberately pretend to be pitiful and beg; those who beg on the street to deceive kind-hearted people into donating money by falsely claiming that their family is poor or that their relatives are seriously injured; and those similar to the old lady in Yueshan City... should be severely punished.
As for the severity and method of punishment, Chen Chaojiang and Li Haidong will discuss and decide on it.
After giving the orders, Xu Zhengyang thought to himself that Chen Chaojiang would most likely listen to Li Haidong's opinion and would have no objections, which was understandable. However, he also thought that Li Haidong, having learned from the previous incident, should have gained some insight and would not act so indecisively and drag his feet.
Of course, Li Haidong would not be as ruthless and merciless as Xu Zhengyang in inflicting torture without giving anyone a chance.
Xu Zhengyang appreciated this point. He had already considered it, as it aligned with his kind nature.
The work of the City God Temple was proceeding in an orderly manner, and time passed by unnoticed. In the blink of an eye, winter had arrived.
Xu Zhengyang was very satisfied with the current efficiency of the City God's Mansion, and the income from faith power it brought was so generous that he was overjoyed.
In today's society, due to the existence of so many injustices, people often feel despair and even numbness. We know what people think when they encounter or discuss certain issues under such circumstances.
When these events, which have aroused public indignation and heated discussions, are suddenly and unexpectedly resolved in a very strange way, and the wicked are punished and paid a heavy price, how satisfying will the public feel when they find out about it?
"Thank God!"
"Hey, this is so weird!"
"This is karma!"