Chapter 80: The Tribulation of the Flesh

As the grand vow of the Heavenly Dao of Profound Serenity settled, a sudden flash of light illuminated the eastern sky of the Divine Kingdom. Accompanied by countless falling flower petals, a magnificent bridge of light materialized amidst the azure sea of clouds. The newly formed bridge radiated brilliant, multicolored light, its length stretching beyond the horizon and its height extending past the fathomless depths. Below the bridge surged a turbulent sea of clouds, while above it danced white cranes. The bridge spanned the vast firmament, ultimately vanishing into the edge of sight.

"What a magnificent Bridge of Eastern Bliss for Deliverance!" Liao Chen exclaimed, unable to contain his wonder after surveying the breathtaking rainbow bridge. The work of the Heavenly Dao was indeed beyond the imagination of mortals!

With the grand vow articulated and the divine office established, Liao Chen no longer had any reservations. He stepped onto a white cloud and flew directly into the divine kingdom, soaring toward the towering Daoist palace deep within the sea of clouds.

Even though his avatar had already set foot upon this divine palace and had become the master of both the palace and the divine kingdom, Liao Chen still could not help but marvel at the grand, exquisite, and dazzling structure. Unfortunately, this was a Divine Kingdom. While his avatar could reside here permanently, it was not a suitable dwelling place for his true physical body!

A divine kingdom was, after all, merely a divine kingdom. No matter how magnificent it might be, it was ultimately just the manifestation of a deity's will before the mortal world. While it naturally aligned with the rules mastered by the deity, the Heavenly Dao within it remained incomplete. No matter how abundant the spiritual Qi might be, it was not a place for practicing the Dao; no matter how majestic the Daoist palace was, it was not a permanent residence for his true self.

With a single thought, Liao Chen shifted his position instantly, appearing right before the grand gates of the Daoist palace.

"Hall of the Divine Lord of the Nine Heavens Who Hears Prayers and Guides Souls." The plaque above the grand hall's entrance finally bore a name written in Daoist script. Liao Chen merely glanced at it before stepping inside with a solemn expression.

Within the grand hall, Liao Chen's avatar, Daoist Xujing, was already seated high upon the cloud platform, adorned in divine robes and a purple crown, with divine light faintly flickering around him. In particular, the Wheel of Merit behind his head had become much clearer, resembling a radiant, boundless red sun.

"Infinite Life and Salvation Heavenly Lord!" Liao Chen's true self bowed in greeting to his avatar. However, he was not bowing to his own avatar—after all, the true self and the avatar were fundamentally two sides of the same entity. Instead, he was bowing to the divine position, the noble divine rank bestowed by the Heavenly Dao.

"Divine Lord of the Mysterious Origin and the Three Realms of Guidance"—this was the divine rank bestowed by the Heavenly Dao. It was a deity that enjoyed the protection of mortal dynasties and社稷 (state altars), as well as the deity responsible for guiding and judging the spirits of deceased mortals. Yet, this rank of Divine Lord was something Liao Chen had never anticipated. Was this the result of the grand vow he had made to the Heavenly Dao? However, vows made to the Heavenly Dao had to be fulfilled. Anyone daring to default on karmic debts to the Heavenly Dao—let alone Liao Chen—would be reduced to ashes instantly, even if they were gods and buddhas filling the heavens.

Liao Chen's mind stirred, and his true self and avatar instantly merged into one. Only then did Liao Chen let out a sigh of relief. This was because Liao Chen's avatar technique was exceedingly extraordinary; it had been formed by self-severing his own divine soul, yet completed with the aid of Heavenly Dao merit. He had feared that right at the moment of canonization, his avatar might develop an independent ego fueled by the power of the Heavenly Dao. If his true self and avatar had ended up fighting each other, Liao Chen truly would have become the laughingstock of the Three Realms and lost all face to show himself. But now, since the avatar could still be successfully recalled into the main body, it meant the avatar was untainted; a divine soul with an independent ego could never be recalled.

Liao Chen picked up the divine seal resting upon the altar. Since he had been conferred godhood, he naturally required subordinate deities, divine soldiers, and heavenly generals. Liao Chen pulled out a Talisman of the Six Ding and Six Jia, gently pressed the divine seal upon it, and waved his sleeve. The talisman ignited spontaneously without any wind, and a moment later, a burst of golden light erupted, revealing a large array of golden-armored divine soldiers standing within the grand hall. Liao Chen nodded; these would henceforth be the divine soldiers of this "Guiding Divine Kingdom."

"We, your subordinates, pay homage to the Divine Lord!" The golden-armored divine soldiers knelt in unison across the hall. Liao Chen waved his hand and commanded, "Rise! From now on, you are the soldiers of my divine kingdom. You must faithfully perform your duties and guard the safety of the divine kingdom."

"We shall not fail the trust of the Divine Lord!" the golden-armored divine soldiers replied in unison. Liao Chen nodded, and the soldiers withdrew to begin carrying out their duties.

Divine soldiers were easy to acquire, but divine generals were hard to find, let alone subordinate deities! These could not simply be borrowed from the Heavenly Court using a few talismans. Liao Chen could only place his hopes on encountering the souls of loyal generals and heroes in the future, enlightening them into spirits, and summoning them to take up posts in this divine kingdom.

Liao Chen had no idea how long he had stayed within the divine kingdom, and he grew anxious about affairs in the outside world. In a flurry, he rallied several squads of divine soldiers to flesh out the facade of the divine kingdom, hastily composed a "Divine Edict" which he handed to the last divine soldier he had enlightened, and ordered them to go and proclaim it to the mortal realm of Great Ming. Just as he prepared to manifest his avatar once more—intending to let the avatar handle all future matters of the divine kingdom while his true self used the avatar's authority to withdraw from the realm—a thought suddenly struck him. He opened the gates of the divine kingdom, laughed heartily, and reappeared before the gates of the Daoist palace.

"Elder Brother, I haven't seen you in many days and have missed you dearly. I wonder how you, busy with myriad affairs, found the time to visit today?" Liao Chen asked with a broad smile as he looked at Zhong Kui, who had appeared before the Daoist palace.

"My younger brother's avatar has attained the noble rank of Divine Lord, causing all sorts of auspicious portents across the Three Realms. Of course, your elder brother had to come and offer his congratulations. Furthermore, entrusted by my lord, the Heavenly Emperor of Yama, Judge Bao, I have brought back your former subordinate to return him to you," Zhong Kui said. With a flick of his sleeve, an old scholar bearing the appearance of a judge materialized before Liao Chen.

"Judge Zhong!" Liao Chen was greatly surprised to see his former subordinate, Old Man Zhong, here.

"Your subordinate, Zhong Shile, pays homage to the Divine Lord!" Upon seeing Liao Chen, Judge Zhong dropped to his knees in deep emotional reverence and kowtowed.

"Quickly rise, quickly rise. When I fought that demonic cult god, it dragged you all into unmerited disaster. It is this poor Daoist who failed you!" Re-seeing Secretary Zhong filled Liao Chen with a myriad of emotions, and he quickly reached out to help his former subordinate to his feet.

Liao Chen had just been worrying about lacking subordinate deities to assist him, and he never expected his sworn brother to immediately return one. One had to admit that Zhong Kui lived up to his reputation as a loyal and righteous sworn brother.

"Liao Chen expresses his gratitude to Elder Brother here," Liao Chen said, bowing in thanks with his hands folded.

"Younger brother need not thank your elder brother just yet. Why don't you calculate how many days your divine soul has been away from your body?" Zhong Kui teased with a knowing smile.

Hearing this, Liao Chen pinched his fingers to calculate, and his complexion shifted drastically. Hurriedly bidding farewell, he said, "My younger brother must go attend to something immediately. I shall return shortly! Elder Brother, please wait a moment!" With those words, Liao Chen vanished in a flash of light.

Meanwhile, inside the Xuanguang Monastery, Youlingzi was pacing back and forth in absolute panic. On that day, his master's Yang spirit had set out to wander, and in the blink of an eye, seven full days had passed. Yet, his master's divine soul had still not returned. Once the seventh day passed, his master's physical body would instantly lose its vital breath! Could it be that when the time came, his master would have to find another physical body and borrow a corpse to resurrect his soul? Would that person still even be his master?

Never mind how frantically Youlingzi was pacing around Liao Chen's physical body inside the Xuanguang Monastery; let us return to Liao Chen. Rushing out of the divine kingdom, he sped back like a shooting star, inwardly furious with himself for forgetting that he was merely wandering in his divine soul and completely neglecting his physical body!

Just as Liao Chen was hurrying along his way, a massive golden alms bowl suddenly appeared right before him. Liao Chen instantly halted the forward momentum of his divine soul, and just as he was about to demand to know who dared block his path, a Buddhist chant echoed from behind him: "Namo Amitabha Buddha!"