A young man in white robes leaned on a white jade table, resting his chin on his hand as he idly played with several Primordial Spirit Treasures.

*”The mortal realm is full of troubles, yet Heaven is tranquil;

Striving to govern, yet no immortals to rule.”*

— From “Early Life Records of the Contemporary Jade Emperor”

He had always dreamed of becoming a Heavenly Emperor revered by all beings. Still, six mighty mountains stood before, behind, and beside him, preventing his divine radiance from reaching throughout Heaven and Earth.

They say a skilled cook can’t cook without rice; similarly, even a skilled emperor can’t rule over empty immortal ranks…

The Heavenly Court had become so idle that his days consisted of growing Immortal Peaches, raising Divine Birds, and toying with the Five Elements Treasures.

It was like being stationed at a retirement home, ready to retire at any moment…

“Your Majesty! East Wood Minister requests an audience outside the hall!”

Upon hearing the announcement from outside, the young man in white immediately sat up straight, put away the treasures, cleared his throat, and picked up a memorial document from his side, opening it to review the text he could almost ‘recite backward’…

“Enter.”

Minister Wood lowered his head outside the hall as he climbed the white jade steps. Looking up at the scene on the high platform, his eyes were filled with appreciation.

The Jade Emperor was truly diligent.

“This old minister pays respects to Your Majesty!”

“Minister Wood, there is no need for such formality,” the young man in white revealed a calm and elegant smile, slowly moving his gaze from the memorial document. You seem to be in a hurry. Is there an urgent matter?”

Minister Wood took out a memorial document and respectfully said: “Your Majesty, regarding your previous instructions about the climate and water pattern changes in the southeastern region of Jambudvipa for the next hundred years, this old minister has completed the arrangements.

Three-tenths will be prosperous years, six-tenths normal years, half a tenth disaster years, and half a tenth left as a buffer.”

“Hand it over.”

“Yes,” Minister Wood stepped forward two paces and used immortal power to lift the document to the Jade Emperor’s desk.

The young man in white carefully reviewed it for a moment before nodding with a smile: “When Minister Wood handles matters, I can always rest assured.”

After speaking, the young man in white put the document aside and couldn’t help but raise his hand to stifle a yawn.

Minister Wood hurriedly said: “Your Majesty, you should rest more regularly. You mustn’t exhaust yourself too much—the Heavenly Court relies on you to hold everything together.”

The young man in white smiled and lightly redirected the topic, “Minister Wood, how are the Four Seas faring lately?”

“The Dragon Clan’s affairs remain unsettled,” Minister Wood said gravely. “Countless beings of the Four Seas have died or been injured. The resentful qi of these beings once formed gray clouds in the Lower Three Heavens, disturbing some celestial beings. If the Dragon Clan continues in such turmoil, the Four Seas will never know peace—it remains a hidden danger.”

The young man in white showed a thoughtful expression, then softly sighed:

“This too is beyond my ability to manage at present. The Dragon Palace affairs have Sage calculations behind them. We can only follow Beloved Official Changgeng’s advice to proceed carefully and go with the flow.”

“Your Majesty is wise!”

The young man in white put down the memorial in his hand and smiled: “Minister Wood, how is the Divine Mandate for Beloved Official Changgeng coming along?”

Minister Wood quickly replied: “This old minister checked three days ago. Following Your Majesty’s instructions, we’ve added Merit Power for the third time and temporarily suspended the other two Mandates being formed simultaneously… This, well, it should take another three years before this Mandate will be ready.”

“Three years…”

The Jade Emperor’s eyes held a trace of helplessness as he sighed softly, “I must wait another three years before Beloved Official Changgeng can enter the Heavenly Court to relieve my boredom… ahem, to offer strategic counsel.”

Minister Wood blinked, feeling like he’d heard something but wasn’t quite sure.

His Majesty must have misspoken.

He must be so tired that his tongue slipped…

“Your Majesty, Sea God friend also yearns day and night to come serve at your side.”

“Enough, Minister Wood—just how many favors have you received from Beloved Official Changgeng? Every day you speak such praise of him.”

The Jade Emperor gave a light laugh, “I naturally know in my heart how important Beloved Official Changgeng is to the Heavenly Court. Your praise isn’t adding flowers to brocade, but rather drawing legs on a snake.”

Minister Wood’s forehead immediately broke out in a cold sweat as he quickly bowed low and called out: “This minister knows his crime.”

He suddenly recalled that in the recent twenty or thirty years, the Sea God had indeed reminded him there was no need to keep praising him before His Majesty…

The Sea God had even figured this out?

Minister Wood felt rather ashamed in his heart—they were both ministers of the Heavenly Court, yet there was such a difference between them.

Fortunately, the Jade Emperor only smiled and gave this gentle reminder before letting Minister Wood withdraw on his own, without saying anything more.

“Changgeng…”

The young man in white mumbled, taking out a piece of gold-patterned silk and writing these two characters on it, then wrote several other words beside them.

Human, Shamanic, Dragon, Supreme Clarity…

“This beloved official of mine has become increasingly unfathomable—just who exactly is he?”

The young man in white muttered, waving his hand over the silk, making the writing disappear.

Following this, he stood up, ending his court session in the Lingxiao Palace. Without guards or palace maids, he walked alone on a golden cloud along a private cloud path toward an immortal island in the celestial sea of clouds.

That was the Jade Pool Palace of Heaven, different from the Jade Pool of Mount Kunlun;

The former was a divine position’s residence protected by the power of the Heavenly Dao, while the latter was more like a vacation spot.

But after going there briefly, the young man in white flew out with a face full of helplessness…

His junior sister was in closed cultivation again, leaving only an avatar outside, and he didn’t feel right chatting too much with his junior sister’s avatar.

Did they think he, as Jade Emperor, was that bored?

What a joke—he, Haotian, was the ‘Supreme Sovereign of the Golden Portal, Most High Lord of Profound Wonder and Pervading Truth.’ Even if he was bored, it had to be the highest level of boredom. How could a simple ‘very’ express his current state of mind…

He was extremely bored!

Returning to his own Jade Emperor Palace, he sealed the palace doors and had several Heavenly Generals guard outside, instructing them to immediately strike the golden chime if any immortal officials sought an audience or if anything stirred in the Heavenly Court.

Thus, the Jade Emperor in white returned to his private chambers and sat properly on the gold and jade soft couch, quietly waiting for something to happen.

Several days later, there wasn’t the slightest stirring in the Heavenly Court…

“Ah,” the Jade Emperor shook his head gently and lay down on his side, seemingly falling asleep.

At the same time, in a corner of the Heavenly Court, a young Heavenly General opened his eyes in his mansion, revealing a slight smile as he thought to himself:

“With nothing else to do, why not go find Beloved Official Changgeng and wander in the mortal realm? He already knows about this avatar of mine.”

Then, this young Heavenly General stood up, grabbed his silver spear, and put on gleaming silver armor, then thought for a moment and changed into a long robe instead. He rode a cloud out of his mansion toward the South Heaven Gate.

Along the way, patrolling celestial soldiers who saw him all bowed their heads in respect, addressing him as ‘General’;

At the South Heaven Gate, the Heavenly Generals guarding the place called out familiarly:

“Brother Hua, are you heading out?”

“Mm, going out for some personal business.”

The Jade Emperor’s avatar agreed with a sound and was about to head straight out when those Heavenly Generals’ expressions changed and they hurriedly stepped forward to block his way.

“Brother Hua, Brother Hua! Do you have a travel jade slip?

Don’t make it difficult for us brothers, they’re checking strictly from above lately, Heavenly Generals aren’t allowed to leave without orders.”

“That’s right, Brother Hua, please understand our position.”

“We don’t know which damned person reported this kind of thing upstairs, but several brothers were demoted because of it!”

The Jade Emperor’s avatar immediately smiled with narrowed eyes, nodding slightly as he took out a token.

“I almost forgot, I already got a travel permit from the Tongming Palace.”

At this, several Heavenly Generals verified the authenticity of the token and quickly apologized a few times before letting him pass through the South Heaven Gate.

The Jade Emperor’s avatar nodded secretly—these Heavenly Generals were indeed dutiful to the rules, they should get a salary increase later…

Hmm, as for the one who spoke out of turn earlier, find some excuse later to deduct a few hundred years of merit.

—This avatar of his was meant precisely for such purposes.

Leaving the South Heaven Gate, he took the route to the South Seashore.

His Majesty’s smile grew increasingly relaxed and comfortable, his entire being becoming much more cheerful.

He disguised his avatar’s realm at the peak of the Celestial Immortal boundary, not considered powerful in the Primordial World, but enough to prevent random small fry from harassing him.

Soon, he arrived above Anshui City.

He had intended to fly directly to the Sea God Temple, but seeing the prosperity of Anshui City’s streets, His Majesty concealed his aura and presence, descending in a corner of the city;

Moments later, the Jade Emperor’s avatar walked out of a small alley, his handsome appearance, straight bearing, and the faint immortal light emanating from his long robes immediately attracted many mortal gazes…

He walked along the street with a smile in his eyes.

Listening to the hawking calls of mortal vendors around him, feeling the thick mundane qi of this place, his ears twitched as he heard a woman at a street corner scolding her husband, and for a moment he felt somewhat symp… ahem.

The mortal realm was quite interesting indeed.

After walking most of the street, the Jade Emperor arrived at the most famous building complex in Anshui City—the Great Sea God Temple.

He browsed through the two rows of stalls in front of the temple but didn’t buy any incense. Instead, he bought a folding fan, which he gently waved as he walked into the Sea God Temple with interest.

However, after just a few steps, two tall and sturdy men appeared before him.

Shamanic people?

With this build and presence, they were indeed impressive. If their strength were a bit higher, they’d make decent ceremonial guards in the Heavenly Court.

The Jade Emperor smiled and asked: “What is it, gentlemen?”

“Friend, greetings!” The two Sea God Temple Divine Envoys cupped their fists in salute, their muscles nearly bursting through their silk short robes.

The Divine Envoy on the left said: “The temple rules require buying incense before entering. If you don’t want to buy any, there’s free incense on the right that you can take as you wish. But if you enter empty-handed, I’m afraid the Sea God won’t be pleased.”

“Oh?” The Jade Emperor secretly nodded, but this avatar’s occupational habit kicked in as he continued asking, “What if I force my way in without incense? How would you handle that?”

The two Divine Envoys looked at each other, exchanging a glance that completed their silent communication.

‘Could this be… someone the Village Chief sent to test us?’

‘Must be, let’s handle it!’

“Hey hey!”

One Divine Envoy suddenly called out in a high pitch, startling the Jade Emperor’s avatar so much he almost attacked, causing all the worshippers in the Sea God Temple to snap to attention.

This Jade Emperor avatar was bewildered as a crowd of excited worshippers quickly surrounded him, men and women, young and old, blocking the path right in front of the Sea God Temple’s main gate.

Not just outside, but inside as well, large groups of people gathered around, looking expectantly at the two Divine Envoys.

“Is it coming?”

“So exciting, haven’t heard the Divine Envoys perform for two days!”

To the side, several temple priests hurriedly arrived carrying qins, flutes, and small drums, while someone called out:

“Watch the magical treasures!”

The Jade Emperor’s avatar was fully focused, ready to act at any moment when he saw that the so-called magical treasures were just bamboo strips, which were thrown and caught by the two Divine Envoys.

As they started clapping the bamboo boards, the music from the side joined in, and applause and cheers erupted from the crowd.

“Dear neighbor please stand still, don’t worry about idle chatter!

The Sea God’s not called casually, divine protection’s what matters!

Up in Heaven sits bright Jade Emperor, Sea God serves in his quarters.

The emperor’s decree guards the mortal realm, Sea God dives deep, and monsters scatter.

The west side killed the wave-making dragon, the South side slayed the sea-stirring python;

The north side cleared three baskets of shrimp, East side dealt with Carp King’s squadron.

That Carp King, true monster king, one leap shocked the Dragon King!”

Amidst rhythmic percussion, a segment of ‘Sea God’s Persuasion’ emerged from the two Divine Envoys’ mouths, trading verses back and forth.

The two spoke clearly and cooperated seamlessly, their performance well-practiced…

This had already become a very mature performance form within the Sea God Temple.

And His Majesty’s avatar progressed from initial confusion to bewilderment, to barely containing his laughter, squinting his eyes in amusement…

The Jade Emperor’s avatar was so entertained that he didn’t even notice when a white-haired, kindly-looking elder arrived at the edge of the crowd…

This time, Li Changshou truly came running.

He had been sketching the general blueprint for the Underworld in his underground secret chamber when he suddenly had a premonition and performed divination.

This divination immediately revealed that an ‘honored guest’ had arrived.

His divine sense first reached this main temple, just in time to see the Jade Emperor’s avatar being stopped by his two Divine Envoys, who were insisting the Jade Emperor take incense to worship him as the Sea God.

This…

How many lives were they gambling with, doing something like this?!

However, to his surprise, the Jade Emperor didn’t seem angry. After being stunned for a moment, he watched the Sea God Temple Divine Envoys’ rhyming performance with great interest.

Li Changshou secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, he had updated the content of these ‘missionary songs’ more than ten years ago, adding the line ‘Sea God follows the Jade Emperor’s decree to descend to the mortal realm.’

Today it came in handy.

As the song ended, the crowd had become packed so tight that not even water could flow through. Li Changshou hid outside the crowd and took this opportunity to transmit a message to the two Divine Envoys.

They immediately perked up and called out loudly:

“That’s all for today! Everyone, please disperse!”

“Sir, please come in, we’ll make an exception this time—you can enter without incense!”

“Oh?” The Jade Emperor’s avatar slightly furrowed his brows and said calmly, “Rules are rules, without rules, nothing can be properly shaped—how can they be easily broken? Today, I, Hua Ritian, will take some incense.”

Li Changshou’s avatar, hiding outside the crowd, heard this and his legs went weak, nearly falling to the ground.