Hou Yi was a Great Shaman of the ancient Shamanic Tribe, renowned throughout the primordial world for shooting down nine suns.

After Water God Gong Gong and Fire God Zhu Rong’s battle brought down Mount Buzhou, Hou Yi and Xing Tian, the two strongest Great Shamans, became candidates for the Twelve Heavenly Demon Formation of the Shamanic Tribe. Both perished in the ancient war.

Unexpectedly, his soul essence fell into the hands of the Demon Tribe.

Speaking of Hou Yi, one must mention a female immortal—his wife Chang’e.

In ancient times, Chang’e was the daughter of the Human Emperor. Her union with Hou Yi carried political undertones.

But when the ancient era ended, Hou Yi had already fallen in battle, and Chang’e departed for the Vast Cold Palace, leaving behind only the tale of “Chang’e’s Regret for Stealing the Elixir.”

“There must be more to this story,” Li Changshou pondered while stroking his chin. Zhao Gongming seemed to want to say something but held back, merely letting out a laugh.

“It’s not that complicated—cycles begin and end, rise and fall,” Zhao Gongming said. “Brother, rather than pondering this, you should think about how to reassemble this object.”

Li Changshou’s eyebrow twitched, but he didn’t pursue the matter. Instead, he turned with Zhao Gongming to look aside.

Baize was currently sweating profusely, carefully arranging wooden wedges and binding them with immortal power. He had completed most of the work.

Li Changshou had already grasped the “working principle” of the Immortal-Slaying Flying Knife. Simply put:

One only needed the Great Shaman’s soul essence’s approval to freely wield this immortal-slaying weapon.

However, Li Changshou’s attempt to communicate with Hou Yi’s soul essence yielded no results.

Hou Yi seemed to have lost all divine soul and will, leaving only an empty shell of soul essence in a near-dormant state.

“This Hou Yi must have endured endless torment from the Demon Tribe,” Zhao Gongming sighed.

Li Changshou also sighed but said nothing more as they waited for Baize to finish his work.

Half a day later, Baize wiped the sweat from his brow and placed a perfectly restored gourd before Li Changshou.

“Finally, I’ve fulfilled Water God’s request.”

Zhao Gongming walked to where they had disassembled the gourd and revealed two black spots in his hand, asking with mock seriousness, “Oh? Master Baize, how come there are still two small wooden blocks left over?”

Baize startled, hurriedly turning to look, then rushing back to carefully examine the smooth and flawless gourd, growing increasingly anxious.

Li Changshou and Zhao Gongming held back their laughter for a while before nearly bursting. Angered, Baize transformed into his true form and chased after Zhao Gongming, butting him repeatedly.

These joyful moments with fellow great immortals felt like Li Changshou’s past life, playing with close friends at school—such days were always fleeting.

Having mastered the Immortal-Slaying Flying Knife’s core secrets, Li Changshou began contemplating how to awaken Hou Yi’s soul essence.

His first thought was to seek help from the Underworld’s Shamanic Tribe, planning to bring the Immortal-Slaying Flying Knife when he went to request aid from the 108 Demon Soldiers.

Visit the Moon Palace to seek an audience with the Great Yin Star-Lord.

Well…

Better not.

Though the Jade Emperor was magnanimous, and currently no rumors circulated about him and Chang’e, who could guarantee the future?

[Laughs]

The essence of being prudent manifested in such small details—best to stay as far from the Moon Palace as possible.

That place was the Jade Emperor’s private garden. Who knew if someday someone inheriting “Hua Tian’s” will, perhaps a certain “Qin Tianzu,” might become a frequenter of the Vast Cold Palace…

A slight tremor in his spiritual sense indicated someone seeking an audience at the Heavenly Water God Manor.

Li Changshou shifted his attention, having this paper avatar return to Black Pool Peak with Gongming and Baize, while part of his consciousness descended to the Water God Manor.

He tidied his ordinary appearance, picked up an ordinary whisk, and resumed being an ordinary high official of Heaven.

Opening the door, Li Changshou looked at Bian Zhuang, Ao Yi, and Princess Long Ji standing further back.

Li Changshou asked seriously, “Has the Heavenly River Navy encountered trouble?”

Ao Yi bowed and exclaimed with a smile, “Congratulations, Elder Brother Sect Master!”

Bian Zhuang also said, “Congratulations, Lord Water God!”

“What’s the occasion?” Li Changshou calmly asked.

Bian Zhuang chuckled, looked around, and moved closer to Li Changshou, whispering:

“Lord Water God, haven’t you heard?

In the court session just now, Wood Lord reported that you interfered with the Jade Emperor and Queen Mother’s mortal trial without permission. The Emperor was furious and punished you with half a month’s reduction in merit salary, and ordered you to serve as the Head Instructor for the Chang’e maidens in the Moon Palace for ten years.

Hehe, hehehe.”

Li Changshou’s mouth gaped open, his entire being nearly consumed by black lines.

Beside him, Ao Yi smiled and said, “Elder Brother Sect Master, this is considered the harshest punishment for male immortals in Heaven.”

The Emperor’s move…

Why? It was incomprehensible.

Could it be he wanted him to scout the situation?

The Moon Palace’s Chang’e maidens were professional dancers for Heaven’s major events, possessing beauty and grace one in a thousand among immortal maidens, practicing various dances diligently each day.

Being selected as a Chang’e was no simple matter. Moreover, Chang’e was an official position, not just a title, and practicing dance in the Moon Palace also earned merit.

Seeing Li Changshou’s furrowed brow, Bian Zhuang asked puzzled, “Lord Water God, aren’t you happy?”

Ao Yi kicked Bian Zhuang, truly wanting to scold him.

What would it look like to show happiness at a time like this?

“I should go speak with His Majesty,” Li Changshou sighed inwardly, preparing to ride the clouds to the Lingxiao Hall.

What kind of situation was this?

If this spread outside, reaching the Three Immortal Islands… Did they think Qiao Xiao and Bi Xiao were as gentle as water, and that Elder Sister Yun Xiao’s command to kneel wouldn’t come with a spell?

Nevertheless, it didn’t matter. As long as he stayed true to himself, remaining an upright deity of Heaven, an upright person need not fear a crooked shadow!

“Master,” Long Ji called softly from the side, her pretty face showing slight displeasure as she whispered, “Mother requests your presence at the Jasper Pool immediately.”

Li Changshou’s thoughts turned, understanding what the Queen Mother wanted him to do, his heart twitching slightly.

Well then, just a moment ago he was thinking of staying far from the Moon Palace, and now he was caught in the “dispute” between the Queen Mother and Jade Emperor.

Shortly after, in the Jasper Pool’s grand hall.

Li Changshou bowed behind the screen to the Queen Mother reclining on her soft couch, saying, “This minor deity pays respects to Your Majesty!”

The Queen Mother’s languid voice came through the screen: “Everyone else may withdraw.”

“Your Majesty!”

Li Changshou hurriedly called out, “Perhaps the immortal maidens should… remain.”

The Queen Mother laughed softly, waving her hand to indicate the attending immortal maidens need not withdraw, then spoke:

“Minister Long Geng, His Majesty seems quite angry that you disrupted his mortal trial.”

“Ah,” Li Changshou lowered his head with a bitter smile, “For Heaven’s stability and His Majesty’s reputation, this minor deity had no choice but to resort to such measures.”

He didn’t even mention that ‘the true culprit was you.’

The Queen Mother nodded with satisfaction and continued, “Regarding His Majesty’s punishment for you to serve as Head Instructor in the Moon Palace, do you have any objections?”

Li Changshou: …

Could he go? Was this possible? Think about Second Senior Brother’s future miserable state!

Right now, he only wanted to resolve the Great Tribulation of Canonization and leave an avatar in Heaven as the ‘Heavenly Emperor’s Messenger’!

Well, this matter couldn’t be rushed.

Li Changshou bowed and sighed, “This minor deity naturally dares not disobey His Majesty’s order.”

“So you mean you want to disobey but don’t dare?”

The Queen Mother laughed lightly, “What does the Water God fear? Everyone in Heaven knows His Majesty’s intentions, just go ahead.

However…”

“Please instruct me, Your Majesty.”

“I’ve heard from many female immortals that the Chang’e maidens in the Moon Palace have long neglected their cultivation, only knowing how to play around. After you go there, Minister Long Geng, you must make them train properly. Don’t let them tarnish the reputation of Heaven’s female immortals.”

Li Changshou’s heart twitched. Was the Queen Mother asking him to train three hundred ‘women warriors who match men in valor’?

In the future, when the Jade Emperor sneaks into the Moon Palace, only to see immortal maidens wielding weapons and wearing armor…

“This minor deity… understands.”

Li Changshou lowered his head in acknowledgment, feeling a headache coming on.

Back at the Water God Manor, Li Changshou paced back and forth in his study, contemplating how to handle this situation.

Reputation meant little to him personally, but he had to consider the feelings of the Severing Sect immortals. This was a crucial period for uniting the Orthodox and Severing Sects—he couldn’t afford any mistakes.

Yet the Jade Emperor hadn’t considered these factors, directly assigning him this ‘cushy position.’

Perhaps he even harbored thoughts of having Li Changshou help scout the path to the Vast Cold Palace.

There was no choice now but to…

Delay!

He still had a task to escort Hua Yun to Heaven—he could delay for these three months.

As for later…

The last time His Majesty raised an army to attack the Demon Tribe, they had to retreat due to insufficient experts, severely damaging Heaven’s prestige.

Now he held the Demon Emperor’s Imperial Seal, capable of dealing a fatal blow to the Demon Tribe’s destiny!

With the Emperor harboring anger, why not suggest another military campaign? They could destroy the Demon Emperor’s Seal before the Demon Tribe, then use the Spirit Explosion Formation to cleanse half the demons, allowing Heaven to suppress the Northern Continent’s borders with overwhelming force!

This time, why not request help from the Orthodox and Severing Sects’ experts?

Setting aside the face of the Sects’ True Immortal disciples—avoiding them before but cowering now when the Great Tribulation looms overhead would invite ridicule.

Moreover, if the Jade Emperor’s envoys were refused but he could persuade the True Immortal disciples to help, wouldn’t that make the Jade Emperor lose face?

After eliminating the demons at the Northern Continent’s borders, he could request merit to offset this punishment!

Thinking carefully, this was truly an excellent plan that would accomplish multiple goals.

The sooner Heaven regained its lost prestige, the better.

[Demon Tribe’s Defeat Cause: Head Instructor of Three Hundred Chang’e Maidens.]

After calculating for a while, Li Changshou immediately returned behind his desk, wrote a memorial, and secretly arranged for a paper avatar to deliver the Demon Emperor’s Imperial Seal to the Heavenly Water God Manor.

Meanwhile, Li Changshou’s paper avatar guarding Que Zhou City had already been secretly protecting Hua Yun.

There was something the Jade Emperor might not know—Hua Yun had already developed deep feelings for Yang Tianyou…

This matter was quite complicated, but to make a long story short.

Roughly speaking, when Que Zhou City faced a crisis in the year Hua Youming was nineteen, before going out to fight enemies, he entrusted his mother and sister to his trusted friend and academy classmate Yang Tianyou.

A general may survive a hundred battles, but a touch of red at the city wall changes everything.

Xia Ningshuang brought Hua Youming back to the Xia Manor to recover, which took considerable time. Then came that night, and nearly half a year passed.

Later, Hua Youming married into the Xia family, while his mother and younger sister bought a residence next to the Xia Manor. The family lived happily together, frequently interacting with the Yang family.

The Yang family were wealthy local merchants, otherwise they couldn’t have entered the academy.

Yang Tianyou himself had quite a talent for business, gaining fame at a young age and marrying at an appropriate time.

When Hua Youming and Xia Ningshuang passed away, Yang Tianyou was already thirty, with one son, but his original wife had unfortunately died of illness, and he hadn’t remarried.

By then, Hua Yun was a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl. Due to her earlier hardships, she was more mature than other girls her age. She had long harbored feelings for Yang Tianyou, who had taken such good care of her.

When the Jade Emperor appeared in Hua Yun’s dream, she asked to remain in the mortal realm for a hundred days because she wanted to express her feelings to Yang Tianyou.

From Li Changshou’s observation, if Yang Tianyou accepted Hua Yun, she would give up becoming a princess in Heaven.

If Yang Tianyou refused, she could only leave in disappointment.

Li Changshou was also curious about which choice Yang Tianyou would make…

At present, Li Changshou summoned Ao Yi and Bian Zhuang, ordering them to train the Heavenly Water Army well, as there might be a great battle soon. He would go handle His Majesty’s assigned task and return in three months.

He also hinted for them to spread this news throughout Heaven.

Thus, three months later.

Li Changshou had completed his arrangements regarding the Northern Continent—

He negotiated with the Shamanic Tribe for some elite forces, discussed with the Dragon Kings to request several hundred experts, prepared the memorial and Demon Emperor’s Imperial Seal, and readied three complete backup plans.

This time they would demonstrate Heaven’s might and destroy the Demon Tribe’s destiny, ensuring they could never again gather hundreds of Demon Kings with such force.

During breaks from cultivation and enlightenment, Li Changshou also visited the Severing Sect’s Golden Turtle Island and True Lord Taiyi’s cave to discuss Spirit Zhenzhu Child’s recent changes, arranging fellowship activities between the two sects.

Though he encountered the Enlightened Lord on the way, which slightly spoiled his good mood,

Li Changshou changed his previous attitude toward the Enlightened Lord, greeting him with a sincere smile.

This left the Enlightened Lord quite puzzled, pondering for a long time why the Heavenly Water God’s attitude toward him had changed so drastically.

Could there be some scheme?

On the appointed day for Jade Emperor Hua Youming to meet Hua Yun, Li Changshou early on placed two streams of immortal light before Hua Yun’s chamber.

—This was to remind Hua Yun that if she didn’t confess now, she would lose her chance.

Sure enough, Hua Yun grew anxious. After hesitating for a hundred days, she finally overcame her shyness today.

She spent half a day carefully preparing herself, donned an elegant long dress, and took the manor’s ox cart to the Yang residence.

As she dismounted, Hua Yun, now a “blossoming neighborhood girl,” captivated countless mortals. She lowered her head as she entered the Yang residence, where the servants dared not stop her.

Successfully finding Yang Tianyou in his study, Hua Yun bit her lip, gazing at her beloved who was looking somewhat puzzled.

“What’s wrong?”

Yang Tianyou was no longer a rash youth, and he was quite familiar with Hua Yun. Seeing her troubled expression, he asked with concern:

“Didn’t you say you were going on a journey today, to find Brother Youming?”

“Brother… Brother Yang…”

Hua Yun accidentally bit her tongue, the words reaching her lips but refusing to come out.

Li Changshou, watching secretly, almost laughed out loud. Such maiden shyness was truly one of the world’s rare beautiful things.

“Just say what you need to say,” Yang Tianyou smiled. “Do you need travel money?”

“No,” Hua Yun couldn’t help rubbing her brow, asking softly, “Brother Yang, do you have… any thoughts of… remarrying?”

Yang Tianyou froze for a moment, then seemed to understand something and smiled:

“I still dream of my late wife, and don’t wish to think about such matters.”

Hua Yun pressed her lips together and said quietly, “Hua Yun understands. Then… if fate allows, we’ll meet again someday.”

With that, she turned to leave.

At this moment, Li Changshou appeared in the sky in his form as the Heavenly Water God. With a light wave of his whisk, a staircase of white clouds emanating immortal light appeared before Hua Yun.

“Immortal Maiden,” Li Changshou smiled, “it’s time to return to Heaven.”

This action certainly had a hint of ‘deliberate showing off,’ but Li Changshou had to ensure Erlang Shen could successfully descend into the world. He had no choice but to use a small scheme on the two mortals.

As Hua Yun stepped onto the cloud stairs, her form naturally floated upward.

She turned to look back; Yang Tianyou stood before his study with an astonished expression, while the mortals of Que Zhou City stared dumbfounded.

They still lacked that composure of An Shui City’s mortals.

This scene left many legends in Que Zhou City, but Li Changshou knew this was just the beginning of Hua Yun and Yang Tianyou’s story.

…

Li Changshou escorted Hua Yun to the Jasper Pool, where the Queen Mother would arrange her care and immortal cultivation matters.

Just as he finished this task, Wood Lord came to the Water God Manor, urging Li Changshou to take up his position at the Moon Palace.

Li Changshou immediately produced a memorial and a great seal, dragging Wood Lord back to the Lingxiao Hall to present them before the Jade Emperor.

Shortly after, Heaven shook.

Civil and military officials gathered in the Lingxiao Hall, while the Jade Emperor donned his golden armor once more. The Water God and Wood Lord stood on either side of the jade steps.

They had experienced such a situation not long ago when the Jade Emperor personally led troops to suppress the demons of the Northern Continent but ultimately retreated due to the True Immortal disciples’ deliberate obstruction and His Majesty’s concern for the Heavenly Army’s casualties.

But today was different.

Because in Heaven, that Water God who always brought them new developments had fully returned.

The Jade Emperor summoned the Divine Authority Sword of the Heavenly Emperor and placed it directly before Li Changshou, smiling:

“In today’s battle, Long Geng will command.

From this day forward, Water God is promoted to Third-Rank True Deity, enjoying Second-Rank True Deity’s merits, in charge of Heaven’s military affairs!”

Li Changshou took the divine sword with both hands, raised it high above his head, and called out:

“I obey Your Majesty’s command!”

Below, all of Heaven’s immortals and deities shouted in unison, a golden light flashed throughout Heaven, and the power of the Heavenly Way grew increasingly dense.

In a dark corner of Little Qiong Peak, a wooden box suddenly burst open, a treasure pagoda and a bronze ruler spun around, while Baize on Black Pool Peak stopped drinking with Zhao Gongming, transformed into his true form, and gazed into the high heavens…