In the Heavenly Court, within the Jade Emperor’s Grand Hall.

The Jade Emperor sat on his throne, watching the civil and military officials in the hall, as well as Bian Zhuang, the Deputy Commander of the Celestial River Army who had just returned. There was a slight smile at the corner of his brow.

‘Minister Changgeng truly is considering the Heavenly Court’s interests at every moment.’

Although the Jade Emperor knew that this immortal official he was most satisfied with now was simply being thorough in his considerations, taking all aspects into account…

At this time, following Li Changshou’s orders, the Celestial River Army was marching along the Celestial River, hurrying to the North Heaven Gate to prepare for the next wave of “descending from heaven.”

Bian Zhuang, along with two Heavenly Generals, escorted Ao Shi to the Grand Hall to report.

Following Water God’s instructions, Bian Zhuang was now reporting with a lowered head about Ao Shi’s rebellion.

Bian Zhuang showed his conscience, mentioning the Water God every few sentences in his report…

“…Western Sea Dragon Palace Prince Ao Shi has been captured by the Water God, the rebel dragon army was forced to retreat by the Water God, and after the Water God cured the Western Sea Dragon King’s poison and healed his injuries, he has gone to guard the Western Sea Eye.

Since Ao Shi also holds a divine position, the Western Sea Dragon King has left his disposal to Your Majesty…”

After the report, the Jade Emperor nodded slowly and asked: “What is the current situation at the Western Sea Dragon Palace?”

Bian Zhuang sighed and said: “It’s gone.”

“Gone?”

“This subordinate saw with his own eyes—only one or two-tenths of the Western Sea Dragon Palace remains, with a huge crater in the seabed filled with dragon corpses.”

Bian Zhuang’s Adam’s apple trembled as he said softly: “According to a Western Sea Dragon Clan elder, most beings in the Western Sea Dragon Palace had their minds controlled by someone.

This subordinate saw only a few hundred loyal followers remaining around the Western Sea Dragon King.

From the scene, the Water God must have had an earth-shattering battle with those dragon rebels!

He single-handedly protected the Western Sea Dragon King and Dragon Mother!”

The Jade Emperor frowned, his voice somewhat anxious: “Is the Water God unharmed?”

“Your Majesty need not worry,” Bian Zhuang hurriedly said, “The Water God’s robes didn’t have even a single wrinkle.”

The White-Robed Jade Emperor finally relaxed slightly, then smiled and said: “I was overthinking—how could our beloved Minister Changgeng, trained by the Dao of Humanity, be harmed by such petty characters?

Minister Bian Zhuang, where is Minister Changgeng now?”

Bian Zhuang said: “The Water God ordered this subordinate and the Celestial River Army to hurry to the North Heaven Gate, ready to support the North Sea Dragon Palace at any time. As for the Water God’s exact location, this subordinate is not quite sure, but he should also be heading to the North Sea.”

The Jade Emperor nodded slowly, his eyes showing contemplation.

Below the high platform, East Minister Wood stroked his beard and hummed softly, stepping forward to bow and say:

“Your Majesty, now both the South Sea and East Sea have erupted in warfare.

The Water God’s efforts to mediate alone may stretch him too thin. Although Your Majesty has ordered the Water God to watch over the four seas, with all four seas under pressure, the Heavenly Court cannot stand idle.”

“Minister Wood speaks reason,” the Jade Emperor pondered and ordered: “Minister Wood, immediately mobilize one hundred thousand troops to assist the East Sea Dragon Palace, and dispatch another general to lead one hundred thousand troops to aid the South Sea Dragon Palace.”

East Minister Wood immediately accepted the order and rushed to the Hall of Clear Brightness to mobilize troops.

This time, the Heavenly Court’s response was not slow—soon one hundred thousand troops gathered at both the South Heaven Gate and East Heaven Gate.

For such a good show—ahem, major event—how could they lack the righteous and magnanimous Marshal Hua Ritian!

The hundred thousand heavenly soldiers heading to the South Sea were led by Hua Ritian and two Heavenly Generals not worthy of having their names mentioned.

Considering other Heavenly Generals’ insufficient strength, and the “heated” battles between dragon forces and sea rebel forces across the South Sea… Hua Ritian had to personally move out, concealing his presence as he hurried to the South Sea Dragon Palace to rendezvous with the dragon clan.

This was reasonable and irrefutable.

This avatar of the Jade Emperor had originally wanted to meet up with his beloved Minister Changgeng, but when he arrived at the South Sea Dragon Palace and met the South Sea Dragon King in his capacity as Heavenly Court Marshal, he saw no trace of Minister Changgeng.

When he asked the Dragon King, the Dragon King also said the Water God hadn’t come…

Hua Ritian sighed inwardly, knowing he had chosen the wrong direction—his Changgeng must have gone to the North Sea or East Sea.

Just as he was regretting not being able to fight alongside Minister Changgeng, Hua Ritian’s heart stirred as he suddenly sensed the Water God’s divine power somewhere within ten thousand miles.

—This was one of the Heaven Emperor’s minor abilities.

At once, Hua Ritian arranged the “signal for deploying troops” with the South Sea Dragon King and hastily left the South Sea Dragon Palace, wanting to meet up with Li Changshou.

But what Hua Ritian never expected was…

[He would accidentally obtain first-hand evidence of his minister slacking off and flirting with a fairy during office hours!]

Just as Hua Ritian left the dragon palace, his divine sense explored the high altitude where he had sensed the presence but found nothing.

After another careful search, he still found nothing.

This aroused a bit of Hua Ritian’s competitive spirit.

So, the main body in the Jade Emperor’s Grand Hall closed his eyes and directly channeled the power of the Heavenly Dao to empower his avatar!

Golden light burst from Hua Ritian’s eyes, and he immediately saw through that space, seeing the white-haired elder and the graceful silhouette surrounded by immortal light and mist…

‘Minister Changgeng seems to be… engaged in romance?

Hmm? No…

You sneaky Li Changgeng, always using avatars in front of me, yet your true body only shows itself in such circumstances!’

The Jade Emperor’s avatar cursed and laughed inwardly, but new questions arose…

Who was this fairy?

Even with the power of the Heavenly Dao empowering his avatar, he couldn’t see through her identity.

Afraid of startling the fairy, Hua Ritian didn’t look further, deliberately releasing his presence as he flew ostentatiously toward the South Heaven Gate.

He was, after all, the Jade Emperor—he couldn’t just fly up and actively greet his minister. Besides, directly interrupting would be somewhat unseemly. This way, he could give his subordinate time to prepare mentally.

—The Emperor’s attention to detail.

‘Minister Changgeng is steady in his actions, he shouldn’t be so careless as to not notice my avatar.’

However, until Hua Ritian saw the Heavenly Court army in the distance…

Bah!

All that talk about working wholeheartedly for the Heavenly Court was just a front!

But…

‘This side of Minister Changgeng puts me more at ease.’

Hua Ritian squinted and smiled, first meeting up with the heavenly soldiers and generals.

After brief consideration, he led the hundred thousand troops in grand formation toward Li Changshou’s location.

Well, they were just taking a detour on their way to support the dragon clan, happening to pass by… purely by coincidence.

…

Northwest of the South Sea Dragon Palace, atop a white cloud.

Li Changshou maintained his appearance as the Water God, walking on the cloud with his hands behind his back, explaining in detail to Fairy Yunxiao beside him the karmic entanglements between the Western Religion, the dragon palaces, and himself.

Naturally, Li Changshou concealed most of his scheming, adding a bit more drama instead.

He combined several threads into his narrative—the development of the South Sea God Temple, the gradual change in the dragon clan’s attitude toward the Heavenly Court, the Western Religion’s constant pressure… He told it all clearly and orderly, without any confusion.

Yunxiao listened intently beside him, occasionally asking questions that always hit the mark.

This gave Li Changshou a feeling of having found someone who “truly understands me.”

Think peach, think peach.

This wasn’t Yunxiao “understanding him”—she simply could see at a glance the points of conflict and core issues in each situation.

Li Changshou was also beginning to understand why the various senior members of the Severing Sect held varying degrees of awe toward Fairy Yunxiao…

Her questions were truly too difficult to answer.

Just as she asked:

“How can fellow Daoists be certain that what you’ve deduced will happen?

The Heavenly Dao has variables, the Great Dao constantly resonates, and calculations can sometimes be deceived—none of these are truly reliable.

Since the Saint Lords have the ability to obscure heavenly secrets, perhaps they also have the power to recreate them.

Your cultivation originally hadn’t even reached the Golden Immortal realm. If you calculated wrong even once, wouldn’t you be gambling with your life?”

Li Changshou pondered for a moment before answering seriously:

“I’m not particularly skilled at calculation and divination.

As you know, fairy, my cultivation years are not long, and my dao realm hasn’t reached such profound depths. When calculating, I can’t touch many heavenly secrets.”

Yunxiao asked curiously: “Then how did you achieve all this?”

“Thinking.”

Li Changshou pointed to his heart—following local customs in the Primordial World, he couldn’t point to his head anymore.

“Thinking?”

Yunxiao blinked, “Could you explain in more detail?”

“Of course,” Li Changshou smiled, “First, the deductions I make are all about how matters will develop in broad strokes. I try to omit minor variables, otherwise mental energy definitely wouldn’t be sufficient.

My usual method is to list out every possible situation that might occur, then take the important events that would appear in these situations and turn them into simple options.

This way, it’s like stringing boxes along a line, which then splits into several different branches…

Can you picture this in your mind?”

Li Changshou gestured with both hands, and Yunxiao nodded gently beside him.

He continued:

“After listing all possibilities and directions of development, you can prepare different degrees of countermeasures for each situation based on their likelihood.

And as events unfold step by step, as boxes along one line are continuously lit up, the general development trajectory ahead becomes visible.”

“So that’s how it is…”

Yunxiao hummed softly, then her eyes filled with admiration as she said: “If speaking of comprehensive planning, this is indeed the way.

However, this method might be too taxing on one’s mental energy.”

Li Changshou smiled and said: “Regarding dragon clan matters, I’ve been thinking for over seven years.”

Yunxiao frowned slightly and asked softly: “Don’t you feel mentally exhausted?”

“Somewhat, but compared to the returns, this bit of exhaustion is nothing,” Li Changshou answered with a smile.

“Then, what’s the longest time fellow Daoist has spent thinking about something?”

Li Changshou sighed: “Seventeen years.”

As soon as he mentioned these seventeen years, the ‘chatty’ spirit consciousness that had just quieted down in Li Changshou’s mind started beeping again…

Tower Lord laughed and scolded: “You fellow, no wonder the master took a liking to you—you can think about one thing continuously for seventeen years!

Dark, you’re darker than dark!”

The Heaven and Earth Ruler followed: “Ni a gu, wu te nong gang, ge e xiao ning fu de la ah!”

Li Changshou smiled calmly, taking it as pure praise.

Yunxiao said gently: “Then may I ask, what matter required such long contemplation?”

“The Dao School.”

Li Changshou smiled: “Though the primary starting point was also because I’m within the Dao School.

I can’t keep letting you question me like this—may I ask you a few questions as well?”

“Heh,” Yunxiao laughed softly, “Go ahead and ask. If you can be frank with me, how could I not be candid with you?”

Li Changshou spread his hands: “At least we’re not sharing liver and gallbladder.”

Yunxiao’s smile deepened.

Li Changshou pondered for a moment, then asked: “I often hear people say that one becomes strong when facing the strong and weak when facing the weak—is this good or bad?”

Fairy Yunxiao gently complained: “How did you turn this into an actual examination?”

Even her complaint was somehow gentle.

After careful consideration, she answered: “From my perspective, it’s mostly good.”

“Wrong—this is bad no matter how you look at it.”

Li Changshou said seriously, “First, one’s strength becomes unstable, with too many variables.

Second, relying on the enemy’s strength to determine your means of being led by the nose.

In matters of strategy, the most important thing is having your rhythm and not being influenced by the enemy…

Of course, this is just my shallow opinion.”

Fairy Yunxiao thought carefully, nodded slowly, and smiled: “Yunxiao has learned something here.”

Li Changshou cleared his throat and asked again: “If you were matching wits with someone, and you’ve thought five layers deep while they’ve only reached the third layer, would victory be certain?”

Yunxiao unconsciously raised her hand to adjust a strand of black hair near her ear, saying:

“Not necessarily certain—sometimes overthinking can lead to the opponent stumbling into the right move that breaks your strategy.”

“Excellent,” Li Changshou silently approved.

Yunxiao smiled and asked in return: “Then, Great Water God, do you have a solution for such situations?”

“It’s simple—stand at every layer.”

Yunxiao immediately fell into contemplation, carefully savoring the meaning…

Just then, Li Changshou’s eyebrows lifted as he saw the white cloud floating in the sky with its formation of heavenly soldiers.

Heavenly Court troops?

Why weren’t they staying at the South Heaven Gate—why come here? Wasn’t this turning hidden forces into obvious ones?

Then Li Changshou saw Marshal Ritian standing before the heavenly soldiers…

[Ah, that explains it.]

Li Changshou said: “Would the fairy-like to go over there with me?”

“Mm,” Fairy Yunxiao said softly, “As long as you’re not worried about me causing you trouble, I have no concerns.”

Li Changshou smiled freely, driving his cloud to carry Fairy Yunxiao toward the Heavenly Court troops.

Getting closer to the hundred thousand troops, Yunxiao made a soft sound of surprise: “Merit-virtue golden body, Heavenly Dao empowerment—could that be Uncle Master Jade Emperor’s avatar?”

Li Changshou: …

So all the Dao School seniors could recognize it at a glance!

How unsuccessful was the Jade Emperor’s avatar?

Though it still made Shou envious…

Yunxiao stopped outside the cloud formation, clearly not wanting to face the Heaven Emperor—whether to bow or not would be awkward either way.

Li Changshou went forward and exchanged greetings with Hua Ritian, who raised his eyebrows at him.

“Water God, who is that fairy?”

Hua Ritian smiled: “Why not introduce us?”

Li Changshou said seriously: “That is my good friend, the Severing Sect’s outer disciple, Fairy Yunxiao.”

Hua Ritian’s eyes lit up, and he smoothly stepped forward to put an arm around Li Changshou’s shoulders, giving his ribs a light punch as he said softly:

“Well done, Water God!”

But…

Ding!

Hua Ritian felt like he had struck a heaven-and-earth barrier, a wave of counter-force flowing back through his fist.

Primordial-Yellow Tower?

Hua Ritian looked at Li Changshou, then at the misty figure in the distance that he still couldn’t see clearly. As the mighty Heaven Emperor, he felt…

Sour with envy.

Li Changshou calmly transmitted: “Fairy Yunxiao has already recognized Your Majesty.”

Hua Ritian instantly withdrew his arm, straightened his chest, and raised his head, his battle armor emitting a faint light to make himself look more impressive and dignified.

“Ahem, hmm!

Water God, which part of the South Sea has urgent battles? Let’s hurry to provide support and help more beings avoid destruction.”

“Don’t rush, Marshal Hua,” Li Changshou said seriously, “Currently, the dragon palaces can still handle the situation in various locations. Since we’re here, why don’t we go guard near the sea eye? That’s the dragon clan’s vital point.”

“Good!”

Hua Ritian nodded, and then they looked at each other, both showing questioning looks.

The sea eye… how to get there?

The dragon clan had hidden all four sea eyes, and the Dao Ancestor had used great magic to conceal the Nine Filth Spring’s heavenly secrets, preventing anyone from finding it and causing chaos in the world.

At this moment, without guidance from the South Sea Dragon Palace or calculation by a Saint Lord, they probably couldn’t find it…

Suddenly, Fairy Yun Xiao’s voice transmitted to their ears:

“Fellow Daoist, there’s something unusual ninety thousand miles southeast. The heaven and earth are turbulent as if a large number of beings are being moved.”

Li Changshou’s dao heart trembled slightly, and he immediately discussed briefly with Hua Ritian.

Then Li Changshou and Yunxiao went ahead first to the location of the space-time disturbance, while Hua Ritian led the heavenly troops following behind.

On the way, Yunxiao took the opportunity to ask: “If this is a feint by the Western Religion, what then?”

“At this point, we can’t determine whether it’s a feint or not. They could potentially attack any of the four sea eyes since their goal is to force the dragon clan to hand over their treasury.”

Li Changshou said seriously: “But, fairy…

When I spoke of standing at every layer, it wasn’t just idle talk.

Though my confidence isn’t too high right now, I’ve still prepared countermeasures.”

“Then, specifically how confident are you?”

“Ninety-four or five percent,” Li Changshou thought for a moment, then added for accuracy, “Approximately.”