The common folk, when faced with troubles, would seek divine aid at temples, with the temple priests often adjudicating their cases.
Neither the officials of the yamen nor the local gentry could do anything about this, reluctant as they were to accept it, for the being in question was a Golden Core Realm immortal, who could wipe out the entire county with a single slap.
This was also the greatest chronic affliction of the Great Heng Imperial Court; the legitimate and Wild Gods had overstepped the bounds of the law, beginning to dip their hands into the mortal coil of power in pursuit of incense and Wish Power.
The prefects and provincial governors were cultivators too, yet they were powerless before the formidable strength of the gods, and even though they were overshadowed, they had to bear it.
The Great Heng Imperial Clan governed alongside the immortals, not the civil and military officials!