The divine white beast emerged from the sea of clouds, slowly walking towards the immortal mountain. Like a celestial being descending into the mortal realm, it moved with otherworldly grace. White mist rose from beneath its hooves, supporting its steps through the void.
*Boom!*
The air suddenly trembled, like ripples spreading across water, sketching out a bowl-shaped barrier that encompassed the layered immortal mountains within.
“The Mountain Protection Formation…” White Emperor knew his status was too high, triggering the Heavenly Sect’s defensive formation.
At that moment, the formation opened a gap, and an indifferent voice transmitted: “You come as a guest, please enter, fellow cultivator.”
The horned head nodded slightly, and White Emperor stepped forward, vanishing into the air. When it reappeared, it stood atop the immortal mountain, before the majestic celestial palace.
Massive pillars supported the hundred-zhang-high dome, carved with patterns of clouds, flames, and swift winds. The overall style was grand and magnificent, yet intertwined with coldness and solitude. The palace was vast and empty, without any furnishings.
At the end of the pillars, atop a tall pedestal, sat a nine-colored glowing lotus platform. Its petals rotated slowly, and upon it sat a white-haired, white-bearded Daoist.
He closed his eyes, head slightly bowed, as if dozing. Though the Daoist’s appearance and bearing seemed ordinary, in the White Emperor’s eyes, he existed between reality and illusion, like a mere projection from history.
“You may call me White Emperor, as the people of Cloud Province do,” White Emperor spoke in human tongue, his voice deep.
“What brings you to my Heavenly Sect?” The Heavenly Lord spoke directly, showing no emotional fluctuation despite the visitor being of the divine-demonic bloodline.
Standing in the great hall, the White Emperor gazed levelly at the Heavenly Lord and said, “When the Dao Sovereign drove all divine-demonic bloodlines from the Nine Provinces continent, were you aware of this?”
“I had no interest in such matters,” the Heavenly Lord replied.
White Emperor, unsurprised by the Heavenly Lord’s attitude, spoke softly: “Your manner reminds me of Him from those days.”
He continued: “I visited the Poison God in the Southern Borderlands. The Poison God told me that the Dao Sovereign may have perished. For the Poison God to make such a judgment, the possibility of the Dao Sovereign’s demise is extremely high. But I cannot understand – in the Nine Provinces of that time, the only being who could threaten him was the sleeping Poison God.
“Yet clearly, the Dao Sovereign’s fall had nothing to do with the Poison God. So what exactly could cause a Supreme Being to perish?
“Those who could answer me in the Nine Provinces are probably only the Poison God, the Shamanic God, the Buddha, and if the Confucian Saint hadn’t died, he would count as well. But these Supreme Beings are either dead or sealed away.
“Perhaps you can answer me.”
A breeze swept into the great hall, gently stirring White Emperor’s mane as its azure vertical pupils gazed at the Heavenly Lord:
“I heard from that Second-Rank Artificer in Cloud Province that the Heavenly Lords of the Dao Sect would disappear without reason.”
It suspected the Dao Sovereign’s fall and the Heavenly Lords’ disappearances were of the same nature.
The Heavenly Lord sat cross-legged with bowed head and closed eyes, not speaking, but a voice transmitted: “What has that to do with me!”
White Emperor didn’t anger, seeming to think this was exactly how the Heavenly Sect should be, and asked: “When I left the Nine Provinces continent, the Dao Sect had many branches, but there was no Human Sect or Earth Sect. I heard He established these later. Does the Heavenly Sect have the cultivation methods of these two sects? I wish to see the cultivation methods of all three sects – Heaven, Earth, and Human.”
The Heavenly Lord remained silent, but three blue-covered texts appeared before the White Emperor, one titled “Supreme Forgetting of Emotions.”
The other two were far thinner than the “Supreme Forgetting of Emotions,” not even half its thickness.
The Heavenly Sect only had the beginning chapters of the Human and Earth Sects’ methods; naturally, they wouldn’t have advanced teachings.
White Emperor’s gaze fell upon the texts of the “Human Sect” and “Earth Sect.”
“Rustle rustle…”
The pages turned rapidly, soon reaching the bottom. White Emperor fell silent, confusion flickering in its eyes:
“These two sects’ methods differ greatly from the Heavenly Sect’s and are extremely flawed. When the Dao Sovereign drove us from the Nine Provinces continent, he was already of Supreme rank – why would he need to create the Human and Earth Sects?”
With this doubt, its gaze fell upon the “Supreme Forgetting of Emotions” text. The pages rustled as they turned, quickly reaching the end.
Then they turned again, White Emperor reviewing it several times before closing its eyes.
After a long while, it opened its azure beast eyes, and an immense sigh echoed through the hall:
“I understand what happened now.”
“You also believe He has perished?” The Heavenly Lord rarely initiated a question.
White Emperor was silent for a moment, then spoke slowly: “The matter is too complex; I cannot give a definite answer. But given the current clues, the Dao Sovereign has indeed perished. The Confucian Saint wasn’t the Gatekeeper, nor was the Dao Sovereign – so who exactly is the Gatekeeper…”
It gathered its thoughts and said: “I will not reveal what transpired here.”
The Heavenly Lord sat in silence, offering no response.
White Emperor turned, transforming into white light and vanishing from the great hall.
…
A small boat drifted with the waves.
Under the harsh sea sun, Mu Nanzhi wore a veiled hat and light dress as she sat fishing from the small boat.
Bai Ji dog-paddled in the rippling blue waves, circling the boat joyfully like a husky, her short limbs paddling vigorously in the clear seawater.
Xu Qi An lay shirtless on the boat, holding an Earth Book fragment like someone from his previous life lying in bed playing with a phone, reading the Tiandi Society members’ messages.
After a period of military training, the forces under the Tiandi Society members had achieved certain combat capabilities – weaker than regular troops but stronger than irregular forces.
Li Miaozhen’s army was the strongest, followed by Chu Yuanzhen’s, with Li Lingsu’s being the weakest.
As for Heng Yuan, unable to convince himself to plunder merchants and wealthy households, he hadn’t gathered refugees or formed an army, only helping the starving and freezing common people within his means.
“Sometimes being too principled is also a form of pedantry, Master Heng Yuan,” Xu Qi An silently commented.
One cannot always rigidly adhere to principles. Those who understand flexibility should consider adjusting their principles based on the environment and situation.
Of course, this should be within certain reasonable bounds.
[Seven: The other day, I was surrounded by government troops, and they were all elites. I didn’t want to fight to the death with them, so I led my forces to break through the encirclement, but unexpectedly, those troops pursued relentlessly.]
Li Lingsu spoke of his recent troubles – his headquarters had been attacked by troops sent by the local government.
He’d encountered such situations before, but those were just scattered soldiers with weak fighting power, or simply militias organized by local gentry.
This time was different – these were elite troops equipped with military crossbows and firearms.
[Two: About five days ago, I also encountered imperial elite troops. Is the young emperor mentally challenged? We help him stabilize the situation and placate refugees, and not only is he ungrateful, he sends troops to suppress us?]
Flying Swallow Woman struck out hard within the Tiandi Society:
[With so many troops, why not deploy them to Qing Province? I see this young emperor isn’t much better than his father, both just warming their thrones. Your lady will find a chance to assassinate him.]
[Four: This shouldn’t be the case. Although Yongxing didn’t approve of Second Brother’s strategy, he was tempted by it. Right now, someone is taking the blame of heaven for him, plundering gentry and noble families, pacifying refugees – he should be happy about it.]
Chu Yuanzhen hadn’t encountered suppression, mainly because his territory wasn’t fixed. Every so often, he would lead troops to attack nearby bandit groups, either eliminating or absorbing them.
Wherever they fought, they would stay for a while, gradually pushing their route toward Qing Province.
[One: Precisely because he didn’t approve it, he’s uneasy.]
At this point, the Tiandi Society’s strategist Huai Qing transmitted:
[Since he didn’t approve, then who is gathering refugees and accumulating power behind the scenes? Emperor Yongxing probably suspects the mastermind is some prince. Such as this palace’s brother, Prince Yan.
[To an emperor, brothers who covet the throne are the same as rebel armies.]
The Tiandi Society members suddenly understood.
Chu Yuanzhen transmitted: [So that’s it. Being away from court for so long has dulled my instincts. Yongxing still lacks courage. If it were me, I’d simply go along with it, let the throne-coveting brothers help stabilize the refugees first, then after winning the Qing Province campaign, betray them – whether through house arrest, assassination, or exposing their schemes to the public.
[After all, for an emperor to deal with a prince isn’t very difficult. As for the experts gathering refugees outside, heh, since they were originally court officials, amnesty would be extremely easy. Even if one or two become overly ambitious, they could be crushed.
[If we can’t defeat the rebels, everything is meaningless, so there’s no need to worry about the refugee situation.]
Huai Qing commented: [Yongxing is just a maintaining emperor. In terms of ability, courage, and tactics, he can’t handle the current situation.]
Chu Yuanzhen pondered: [Compared to him, the Fourth Prince is indeed more outstanding.]
Discussing the emperor’s shortcomings in a semi-public setting was a serious crime.
However, Chu Yuanzhen had left the court many years ago, and the Tiandi Society members were all rebels at heart, so there was no need for taboos.
Though angry, the Tiandi Society members had no solution to Emperor Yongxing’s actions.
First, this was how an emperor should operate, and second, courage and boldness couldn’t be cultivated in a short time.
Emperor Yongxing was just like this – no amount of criticism would help.
At this point, Huai Qing transmitted:
[A few days ago, Emperor Yongxing arranged a marriage between Lin’an and Xu Qi An.]
The Tiandi Society suddenly fell silent.
Xu Qi An couldn’t hold the Earth Book fragment steady, and it fell on his face with a smack.
[Two: What? The country is nearly ruined, yet the young emperor has time to worry about his sister’s marriage. Indeed a muddle-headed ruler, I must assassinate him!]
Li Miaozhen had added Emperor Yongxing to her must-kill list – not because of the marriage arrangement, but mainly because Emperor Yongxing was too incompetent and weak.
[One: This is good news. I think such an important matter should be told to the Spiritual Master, but unfortunately, the Spiritual Master wasn’t in the capital recently.]
[Two: The Princess Consort speaks truly.]
Did you send someone to notify the Spiritual Master at Lingbao Temple? Xu Qi An’s heart sank as he thought, “Miaozhen, you don’t need to assassinate him – the Spiritual Master will do it for you. But my little Lin’an might be in danger now.”
But he wasn’t panicked, because the returning Spiritual Master was the genuine cool-beauty aunt, the kind one.
Not the yandere Xiao Ai, the steady Xiao Hui, and certainly not the witch Xiao E.
The kind aunt wouldn’t do such things.
[Four: So Ning Yan is going to be a prince consort.]
Chu Yuanzhen offered sincere congratulations.
Bah, may the scoundrel die… Li Lingsu sincerely congratulated:
[Congratulations to Brother Xu on becoming the current dynasty’s prince consort. Hmm, I’ve had some insights in my recent cultivation and can’t help wanting to visit the capital to seek guidance from the Spiritual Master. Ah, right, Senior Xu, does Madam Xu know about this?]
The Holy Son gradually began to speak with double meaning.
This friend… Xu Qi An’s mouth twitched as he nervously glanced at Mu Nanzhi, who was focused on fishing.
If the Flower Goddess knew about this, she’d probably run to the Floating Pagoda again to practice Buddhism with the old monk Tower Spirit.
[Two: Yes, congratulations to Constable Xu. Constable Xu becoming prince consort is what everyone hoped for. When’s the wedding? I’ll bring the fathers and fellow villagers of the Heavenly Sect to feast and drink.]
The Young Phoenix’s sarcasm was no less than the Crouching Dragon’s.
Li Lingsu added fuel to the fire: [Might as well marry Princess Consort Huai Qing too, set a precedent for the Great Feng Dynasty, a beautiful tale for prosperous times.]
After all, it was online, so they weren’t afraid of Huai Qing and Xu Qi An tracking them down through the Earth Book.
Fine, wait until we return to the Nine Provinces, I’ll gather all your sweethearts together and let you have a good time… Xu Qi An’s fingers quickly wrote:
[The Southern Demon has driven the Buddhist sect out of the Southern Borderlands, and the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox has rebuilt the Ten Thousand Demons Nation.]
[Four: Not bad.]
The Tiandi Society members didn’t have much reaction – this was expected, since they knew early on that Xu Qi An would help the Southern Demon restore their nation.
[Seven: Is Brother Xu changing the subject?]
Xu Qi An snorted, thinking the main event hadn’t even come yet.
[Three: During this Southern Borderlands journey, I discovered a major matter involving the Buddha.]