Towering-Soul's reign lasted for sixty-three years, and he was succeeded by Godly-Soul, his son. Godly-Soul inherited his father's gentle nature and bashfulness, but this did not make him a weak ruler. He did not leave the inner palace often, but when he did he commanded the respect of everyone who was near him and inspired them to accumulate merit for the Realm. He did not detest the presence of commoners and would often give speeches in front of thousands of them at a time. And in matters of law and justice he was quick to pardon petty wrongdoers but did not show mercy to those who committed acts of true evil. Over his career he went on many campaigns to chastise barbarians and outlaws, during which he proved expert martial cultivation, and he never lost a battle. He married a woman from the Orion clan who gave him five sons and five daughters, and she was revered for the wise council she gave him and for her refined sense of taste and poetic talent.
Godly-Soul devoted several hours every day to the contemplation of spiritual matters. Eager to learn the true meaning of both the Law and the immanent workings of the natural world, he sponsored debates by scholars and holy men of variegated sects in the Court. These wise men discussed such questions as the origin of the world, the immortality of the soul, the transmigration of souls, the different grades of gods and devils and questions regarding the constitution of the world, of Heaven and Earth and the five elements. And the questions of an abstract nature enriched his mind and led to a new awakening to reality in him, but when it came to the questions of ancient matters and investigations into the past eras when gods and demigods were said to have lived alongside men, he was disturbed by the wanton mixture of truth with fabrication. In the sixth year of his reign, he said these words before an assembly of the learned: "Truth is the virtue of the Imperial House, which is why during the founding of this realm the First Emperor assigned noble titles only to those who could prove the veracity of their genealogies. Since this realm was conceived in truth, it must also die with the truth, therefore to uphold the true and exclude the dubious is an act of the utmost importance that implicates the fate of the Empire even more than military dominance and bureaucratic order. For it is not possible to act justly without knowing the truth. Now when it comes to matters which do not directly concern the Imperial House, matters that are of universal import to all living creatures and that touch upon the diverse natures of things, there is much room to speculate and think of imaginative explanations. But when it comes to the Imperial House itself and the persons and deeds of the Imperial Ancestors, anything short of a true account endangers the Realm. Thankfully, the Law assures us that truth shines even in this Realm thanks to the sacred Mirror that shines in Heaven and is daily cleaned by the Lady of Dawn. The Light of this Mirror shines in the text of the Law itself, in artifacts handed down from higher epochs as well as through revelations of the minds of the deities in dreams and sacred visions. But because this true knowledge can easily become entangled with other knowledge of an extraneous source, the proper way to handle it is spell it out clearly and then to enshrine it in its own shrine tended to by Imperial priests and priestesses. Thus I decree that a new collegium of Imperial priests and priestesses is to be formed and tasked with the creation and maintenance of a book of the veracious Memories of ancient matters and of the lives and deeds of gods and demigods up to the time of the First Emperor, for after the founding of the Realm there is no question of veracity owing to the work of the court annalists. I also decree that no one who belongs to this collegium is to simultaneously belong to another school, whether religious or secular. Because this book is to deal exclusively with Tengir and his progeny, let it be known as the Book of Tengir." And Godly-Soul's decree was enacted immediately to the praise of almost everyone. To head the new collegium, a 2nd-senior post was created in the Ministry of Sacrifices called Doctor of the Memories and assigned to the priest and older brother of Godly-Soul named True-Soul. Twenty other priests and priestesses, nearly all of them of direct Imperial lineage, were placed under his charge. True-Soul and his team dedicated every waking minute of their lives to the project, and the first edition of the Book of Tengir was promulgated after only four years. When Godly-Soul read it, he was deeply pleased, and from that point on he was not anxious about the fate of the Realm.
He was an avid practitioner and collector of calligraphy, and was constantly seeking out the eminent talents of the day to create excellent works to be displayed in the palace as well as monumental inscriptions and copybooks to train the official scribes. But by far the most famous calligrapher who lived during that time was a hermit styled Frog Whisperer. His reputation spread far and wide. When Godly-Soul got his hands on a few of his works, he immediately invited him to the palace and commissioned him to create ten scrolls, each ten feet by three, bearing quotations from the Law to be hanged in the throne room. With a brush nearly the size of a mop Frog Whisperer did all ten scrolls on the spot and astounded everyone with his combination of mature technique and childlike creativity. The tenth scroll, however, exceeded them all. It was so good that Godly-Soul did not consider himself worthy of owning it, he declared: "If I look at a scroll like this every day it will only remind me how poor of a hand I have in comparison to you. There is no way I can accept it. You had better take it home and display it in your parlor." To which Frog Whisperer responded: "Your Majesty, I would accept your offer if it weren't for the fact that my roof is made of thatch, my walls of earth and my door of reeds. I'm afraid I will never live in a house grand enough to display a work of this scale." And Godly-Soul immediately granted him land in the capital and five hundred gold bullions to build a new house.