Ninth In the World

The days became peaceful again.

Over time, people in the entire Jia He Town learned about Di Jiu. He was not a talkative outsider. He would go to the village after a while and spent most of his time in his cabin.

The only disadvantage was that he never went out for physical labor.

After discovering that Di Jiu did not like physical labor, people would send some food to him after some time. The people in the mountain village had simple hearts. Although some people looked down on Di Jiu’s laziness, most villagers did not care much.

In the eyes of these villagers, Di Jiu had been left with one leg and Gui Hai had brought him back. Furthermore, Di Jiu had even brought an auspicious sign to Jia He Town.

Any villager who gave something to Di Jiu would just take it to a small wooden warehouse outside Di Jiu’s house. When Di Jiu closed the door to recuperate, no one could see him.

In the eyes of the villagers in Jia He Town, Di Jiu knew his place. He had never asked the villagers to send him anything. If people brought something to his wooden house, he would not return it. If someone gave Di Jiu something and later felt a little regretful, he could go in and take it away at any time. Di Jiu had never said anything.

Gui Hai brought the most things to Di Jiu, but the most beautiful flower in Jia He Town, Gan Rou, looked for Di Jiu the most.

Gui Hai and Gan Rou saw Di Jiu very few times. Only when Di Jiu went out to walk could they see him and chat with him.

In any case, ever since Di Jiu had come, the quality of life in Jia He Town, which was a small mountain village, had improved significantly. Their illnesses were gone, and food had been ensured.

In addition, the fruits of Jia He Town were more delicious than anywhere else.

Some lively villagers harvested various fruits in Jia He Town and sold them at the market fifty kilometers away.

Very soon, the fruits became popular and their price surged. Many villagers made a small fortune thanks to that and bought a lot of cotton and satin. Some people even started to buy some luxurious goods that only the people in the city would purchase.

Naturally, Di Jiu was unaware of these things. He had been in Jia He Town for more than a year. Over this year, he had recuperated a lot. Although one of his legs was still broken, he could recover his broken leg at any time if he wanted.

However, Di Jiu knew very well that this kind of recovery was not what he wanted.

He needed something else. After his broken leg recovered, his Dao would not suffer from any effects, which meant that his physical body and Dao force had to recover together.

Since he could not achieve that now, Di Jiu would not be in a hurry to recover his broken leg.

His Dao force was still missing, and his Nomological Dao was not perfect. If his Dao force was perfect, he would surely be able to recover his broken leg very easily.

The tranquil and peaceful life of Jia He Town complemented his Dao, but some things were still lacking. Maybe it would take time to complement them and he could not just get them when he wanted to.

…

On the Black Luster Planet, the Chang Yuan Empire was the strongest empire.

It was not strong just because of its strong army. Most importantly, it had an omnipotent State Teacher.

As long as the State Teacher appeared, anything could be easily solved. Even during a drought, one could beg the State Teacher for rain.

All the kingdoms around the Chang Yuan Empire needed to offer a tribute every year.

The vassal states and state cities affiliated with the Chang Yuan Empire were also required to offer annual tributes. Fortunately, the Chang Yuan Empire was rich. Thus, they did not care about how precious the things offered as tributes were as long as they were unusual and unique.

That day was the day that the affiliated vassal states would offer a tribute to the Chang Yuan Empire. The monarch of the Chang Yuan Empire, Cen Fa, was sitting in the Golden Imperial Hall with a colorful tassel crown covering half his face.

However, no officials dared to look up at the moment. If they did, they would definitely see an unhealthy pale face. His cheeks were sunken, a piece of evidence left behind by his excessive indulgence in debauchery.

No one dared to look up in the Golden Imperial Hall of the Chang Yuan Empire, but there was one exception: State Teacher Nai Yisheng. It could be said that Nai Yisheng had contributed the most to the Chang Yuan Empire’s current status. The Chang Yuan Empire’s Monarch, Cen Fa, trusted Nai Yisheng a lot and took his advice.

At the moment, Nai Yisheng was sitting beside Cen Fa. Although it could not be said that there was no one above him, the Emperor was on equal footing with Cen Fa.

Cen Fa glanced at Nai Yisheng, who was by his side, and Nai Yisheng nodded his head. Then, Cen Fa scanned the officials on the ground. After a long time, he said with satisfaction, “Everyone, please rise. Ye Hang, let the officials offer the tribute.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” a pale, beardless eunuch who stood underneath hurriedly responded with a bow. Then, he said loudly, “Let the officials offer the tribute!”

As voices spread one after another, the first official to offer the tribute arrived below the hall, led by the palace eunuchs.

Ye Hang’s sharp voice spoke. “King Sha He presents five kilograms of purple gold, five kilograms of supreme-grade Covet Fragrance, a piece of extraterrestrial meteorite iron…”

The tributes behind Ye Hang were brought out of the Golden Imperial Hall.

After Ye Hang had read for dozens of seconds, he finished reading all the tributes.

Upon seeing Monarch Cen Fa nod, Ye Hang added, “The tributes have been received. King Sha He has worked hard.”

When he heard that, the man kneeling on the ground hurriedly shouted, “Long live, Your Majesty!” He then stood up and left the hall with a eunuch.

After King Sha He left, another man came in and knelt. Ye Hang continued reading out loud. “King Yi Yong presents fragrant twins, 108 Deep Sea Pearls…”

When Cen Fa, who was sitting at the top, heard about the fragrant twins, his eyes lit up. When he saw two stunning, elegant young ladies come in, he immediately said with a laugh, “King Yi Yong is thoughtful. You don’t have to take your leave, beauties. Come sit beside me.”

The two young ladies responded obediently and gracefully walked over and stood on either side of Cen Fa.

Cen Fa smelled a faint fragrance and felt increasingly happy. He even stretched his hands to embrace the two of them.

Ye Hang was still reading out loud as the tributes went around the Golden Imperial Hall. However, these tributes could not attract the attention of Cen Fa. His attention was now on the two fragrant women beside him. The faint fragrance made him seem a little preoccupied.

“Jia Zhou City Lord Wang Xie presents ten Sunset Peaches…”

Even Ye Hang was shocked. Despite reading out loud for so many years, this was the first time he had heard of someone presenting ten Sunset Peaches. He wanted to believe that he had not finished reading, but there was really nothing.

Ye Hang took a cold breath. Did he have a death wish? Ye Hang and all the chancellors in the hall were silent. He was clearly courting death, but he need not come here even if he was. He could just kill himself. The Chang Yuan Empire’s Monarch would not let anyone die happily.

“Yes!” Cen Fa, who seemed to sense the surrounding silence, lifted his head. “What is it?”

Indeed, he had not heard clearly what Ye Hang had read out loud.

“Your Majesty, a City Lord just presented ten Sunset Peaches,” answered a fragrant woman who was snuggling beside Cen Fa in a low voice.

“What?” A flame erupted deep in Cen Fa.

No one in the neighboring countries had dared send common Sunset Peaches. How dare an affiliated city present Sunset Peaches! On top of that, there were only ten peaches. Was he insulting Cen Fa?

Although he did not mind how precious the tribute gifts were, this was a completely different matter.