Cloud Fairy dreamt of love, waking to find her jade pillow wet with tears, her eyes filled with longing and her spirit somewhat adrift.

These were clear symptoms of entering tribulation.

Of Li Changshou’s two paper avatars currently active in Heaven, one was broadcasting from the Moon Osmanthus Palace, while the other kept watch around Cloud Fairy.

At this moment, Li Changshou had a major doubt in his heart.

This old Daoist Fu Yuan’s problem was too obvious – this was hardly different from self-exposure.

If Li Changshou had considered this matter before the Northern Continent Miasma battle, he would only have examined it from regular aspects like tribulation energy, Fu Yuan’s position, possible consequences, and worst outcomes;

But now, Li Changshou added several directions, trying to make his considerations as comprehensive as possible.

First, was it possible Fu Yuan had become a puppet halfway, not an original traitor?

Second, could there be issues with Yang Tianyou’s background?

Third, had the Sages directly intervened?

Fourth, could this possibly be a target deliberately meant to attract his attention, concealing their true calculations?

And so on.

Elder Fu Yuan was an old immortal of Heaven, entering around the same time as Master Wood, mixing in for a long time and reaching a relatively high position. This name Fu Yuan was also a Dao title adopted later, without any impressive background.

If Fu Yuan had been arranged as a chess piece early on, the chosen timing for making trouble seemed somewhat off.

— At this time, Heaven was about to rise through the Great Tribulation. There had been plenty of opportunities before to backstab the Jade Emperor, so why hadn’t they been used?

After comprehensive analysis, the most likely option was instead that old Daoist Fu Yuan had been mind-controlled, or had directly had his beam stolen and pillar replaced…

If it truly was like this, the possibility of direct Sage intervention was quite high, around twenty percent.

Old rule: [If I were controlling Fu Yuan from behind, what would I need to calculate with him?]

A flash of inspiration struck Li Changshou’s mind as he caught a key point.

Throwing stones to test the waters.

The other party’s actions like this likely had no clear purpose – at minimum to irritate the Jade Emperor, with the ideal outcome being damage to the Jade Emperor’s prestige, thereby achieving other goals.

Currently, with the Great Tribulation’s energy descending, heaven and earth were like muddy waters. If one could splash some waves with a stone, it might trigger a chain reaction…

The Western School naturally had the highest possibility of being behind this trouble, but the Enlightenment School couldn’t be directly ruled out.

Of course, there was also a slim possibility the Severing Sect had acted, but this… this…

Mm, maintain doubt, don’t jump to conclusions.

Emphasize being rigorous!

Looking at Cloud Fairy sitting quietly lost in thought before her dressing table with his immortal sense, Li Changshou shook his head secretly and shifted his attention elsewhere.

He sent out a paper avatar disguised as a Heavenly General, under his own orders, to investigate Yang Tianyou’s background in the Underworld.

Subsequently, the official Water God paper avatar left the Great Yin Star for the first time in two years, moving about Heaven openly investigating matters related to Cloud Fairy.

This move was also quite multi-layered.

Li Changshou first visited Cloud Fairy, persuading her not to worry too much, and sent heavenly soldiers to request orders from the Jade Pool, adding six handmaidens for Cloud Fairy.

This made Cloud Fairy the second heavenly immortal after Queen Mother to have more than two fairy handmaidens.

Due to the separation of male and female immortals in Heaven, even the Jade Emperor didn’t have such treatment!

Afterward, Li Changshou went to the Marriage Palace to check Cloud Fairy’s matrimonial red string and pointed at the red string between Cloud Fairy and Yang Tianyou while exploding in anger on the spot:

“Old Man of the Moon, what is this?

Cloud Fairy is the Jade Emperor’s sister from his tribulation – how can she have her red string bound to death with a mortal!”

Old Iron Moon was scared into trembling, hurriedly saying: “This- this wasn’t done by this minor god! May the Water God be my witness!”

Li Changshou frowned and asked: “Then let me ask you, what is this place?”

“The Marriage Palace…”

“And who are you?”

“This minor god is the Old Man… of the Moon…”

The Old Man of the Moon’s face suddenly turned extremely pale as he stumbled back several steps. Looking at the red string that had already been locked into a death knot, he subconsciously reached for his golden scissors.

Li Changshou swung his horsetail whisk to stop the Old Man of the Moon, saying softly:

“The tribulation energy of heaven and earth is already manifest, and this matter reeks of oddity. Old Man of the Moon, do you want to cut it?”

The Old Man of the Moon trembled again, his heart seemingly hanging fifteen wooden buckets – completely unsettled, muttering ‘it’s over, it’s over’ as he anxiously circled before Li Changshou.

“Water God! Water God save me!”

“This matter is beyond my ability to resolve,” Li Changshou sighed. “Remember, you only need to firmly insist this wasn’t your doing, this death knot wasn’t tied by you, and be willing to swear a Great Dao oath to this effect.

His Majesty the Jade Emperor is kind-hearted and magnanimous, and the Old Man of the Moon has rendered meritorious service to Heaven – you naturally won’t be blamed.

This matter, I really must investigate thoroughly…

Old Man of the Moon, can you remember who has visited your Marriage Palace in the past twenty years? Write down all their names for me.”

“Yes, yes! This minor god will write them down right away!”

Li Changshou added: “To prevent you from being framed, I will record your writing process with recording spheres from multiple angles. Please be as detailed as possible.”

“Ah! Many thanks, Water God!”

The Old Man of the Moon heaved a long sigh and invited Li Changshou to a side hall, continuously recalling, thinking, and narrating as he wrote down message after message.

Which immortal came at what hour and said what during these twenty years – the Old Man of the Moon explained everything extremely clearly, letting Li Changshou…

Unexpectedly obtain dirt on more than ten heavenly immortals.

These were minor matters, and Li Changshou saw no need to make things difficult for colleagues serving in the same palace.

Half a day later, Li Changshou put away the seven recording spheres that had captured multiple angles, and gave some instructions to the Old Man of the Moon, suggesting he should seal the palace in the near future and not let anyone enter the Marriage Palace. The Old Man of the Moon readily agreed.

As soon as Li Changshou left, the Old Man of the Moon closed the Marriage Palace’s main gates and sent two boy servants outside to hold signs:

[Old Man of the Moon Not in Palace];

[This Place Protected by the Heavenly Way].

Moving openly without concealing his whereabouts, Li Changshou continued visiting various places in Heaven.

Leaving the Marriage Palace, he took the route through the Jade Pool.

Li Changshou instructed Longji not to leave the Jade Pool recently, then exchanged several openly “coded” messages with Queen Mother, asking her to keep a close watch on Cloud Fairy.

Then, as if struck by sudden inspiration, Li Changshou suddenly changed direction, deliberately passing by Elder Fu Yuan’s mansion, and pacing outside Fu Yuan’s gate for a while.

Finally, Li Changshou turned and left without entering, hurrying to see Master Wood.

Li Changshou chatted with Master Wood about Heaven’s affairs for a while, employing his ‘dual voice synchronization technique.’

While speaking aloud, he secretly transmitted to Master Wood with immortal sense:

“Master Wood, who chose you back then to be the head of male immortals, restraining His Majesty the Jade Emperor’s authority?

If it was the Dao Gate Sage Lords, please laugh; if it was the Western Sage Lords, please sigh; if you don’t know, blink rapidly.”

Thus, Eastern Master Wood pressed his hand to the corner of his eye, muttering: “Why do I feel somewhat unsettled?”

Then his eyelids started blinking chaotically at a rather frightening frequency.

Li Changshou laughed inwardly while continuing to chat idly with Master Wood.

After bidding farewell to Master Wood, he returned to the Moon Osmanthus Palace, sat behind the bronze mirror, and continued watching the Chang’e maidens rehearse their dance while eating the delicacies at hand.

Another half day later;

The Underworld also had results – through the King of Hell and the Book of Life and Death, Li Changshou investigated Yang Tianyou’s previous eighteen lives and found nothing wrong, just a normal true spirit continuously reincarnating.

And then there was the list from the Moon Elder’s palace…

Elder Fu Yuan had visited the Moon Elder’s palace three times in the past twenty years, drinking and making merry with the Moon Elder, intentionally building connections.

The timing of the second visit corresponded exactly to the event of ‘Hua Youming entrusting his mother and sister to Yang Tianyou’s care at nineteen years old.’

Very clearly, this move regarding Hua Yun and Yang Tianyou had been planted before the Jade Emperor’s tribulation body returned to Heaven.

At this point, there were enough logical pivot points, and a ‘storyline’ with sixty percent probability clearly presented itself in Li Changshou’s mind…

Li Changshou’s lips showed a faint smile, his eyes narrowing involuntarily as he picked up a piece of freshly roasted spirit beast meat and placed it in his mouth, chewing slowly.

Actually, he was recalling the various details hidden behind this seemingly simple game of chess, checking whether he had missed anything.

Self-reflection and self-examination didn’t have to wait until after things were finished;

If he could discover holes in advance, there was also the possibility of timely remedies.

Meanwhile, at the entrance to the Moon Osmanthus Palace.

Stare—

Two rabbit ear ornaments poked out, a small head showing its forehead and eyes, catching Li Changshou’s expression from afar and trembling involuntarily.

Suddenly hearing a woman’s soft call from behind: “Why is Little Rabbit hiding here?”

The young Jade Rabbit’s whole body trembled as she quickly pulled her head back, making a silencing gesture to the beautiful fairies arriving on clouds behind her, followed by a series of throat-slitting gestures, neck-pinching, and head-tilting with tongue out…

The fairies covered their mouths and giggled delightedly.

One fairy said: “Little Rabbit, don’t be like this. The Water God is an excellent immortal – haven’t you discovered this over the past two years?”

“That’s right, those times before, the Water God was just teasing you. The Water God’s gaze toward you is quite benevolent.”

“Be- benevolent?”

The Jade Rabbit recalled her several encounters with Heaven’s Water God over the past two years and couldn’t help but crouch down, hugging herself pitifully.

[When Darkness Falls, Only I, a Rabbit, Discovered the Dark Lord’s True Identity].

“Could you help me present this to Water God? I don’t dare go over…”

The Jade Rabbit, teary-eyed, held out an invitation with both hands to the fairies;

These fairies didn’t hesitate, taking the invitation and flying into the hall amid laughter, landing before Li Changshou.

The young Jade Rabbit poked her head out again, secretly watching the situation over there.

She saw Li Changshou pick up the invitation and look at it once, then heard him laugh and say:

“The Great Yin Star Lord invites me to a feast? Better not – that Vast Cold Palace has absolutely no human atmosphere, I truly find it somewhat uncomfortable.”

As he spoke, Li Changshou looked up toward the hall entrance, only seeing a faint shockwave – likely the ripples left by rabbit legs kicking off in retreat.

Heng’e inviting him to a feast?

Li Changshou didn’t know what this meant, but he didn’t want to become the first man to enter the Vast Cold Palace since ancient times.

And so, the feasting continued in the Moon Palace, the image in the bronze mirror unbroken.

As springs and autumns passed in the mortal realm, another half year went by.

Cloud Fairy finally couldn’t contain herself any longer. After consulting with her handmaidens and visiting Queen Mother once, she recklessly descended to the mortal realm in secret.

Throughout this process, the Jade Emperor, Queen Mother, Li Changshou, Master Wood, and a small number of Heaven’s experts all closely monitored Cloud Fairy’s movements.

When Cloud Fairy took out a jade talisman, disguising herself as a heavenly general to slip through Heaven’s gates, the Jade Emperor’s face in the Crystal Palace grew completely dark, yet he held back, not intervening.

He was the Jade Emperor.

With tribulation energy descending and Heaven rising, if he acted against the tribulation energy, it would affect the Great Tribulation’s progression, possibly even impacting Heaven’s rise to power.

The story that followed was somewhat cliché.

Cloud Fairy descended to meet Yang Tianyou, and years of yearning plus the disturbance of the matrimonial red string made them embrace when their eyes met.

Yang Tianyou was a very responsible man. He didn’t want to hinder Cloud Fairy’s future because of himself, a mere mortal, constantly holding back, holding back…

But in the end, he couldn’t hold back.

Li Changshou, following secretly behind, covered the Yang mansion with a barrier, indicating matters had been settled.

In the Crystal Palace, the Jade Emperor shook his head and sighed.

His sister had grown up and wanted to marry – as her brother, he had nothing to say;

It was just that the subsequent entanglements were complex and gave the Jade Emperor all sorts of headaches.

At this time, Li Changshou’s paper avatar in the form of a young Daoist huddled together with the Jade Emperor’s avatar, finding a mountain with nice scenery for a drink while pondering their next move.

The Jade Emperor wanted to help fulfill Yang Tianyou and Cloud Fairy’s relationship, so he tossed this difficult problem to Li Changshou, saying:

“If Changgeng can think of an idea before this cup of wine is finished, I will bestow a treasure upon you.”

Li Changshou smiled slightly, deliberately showing a thoughtful expression;

The Jade Emperor had just raised his wine cup for a sip when Li Changshou brought out his already-prepared plan.

“Got it.”

Pfft—

The Jade Emperor’s avatar covered his mouth, glaring at Li Changshou: “Got what?”

“The solution Your Majesty wants,” Li Changshou smiled. “This minor god investigated Yang Tianyou’s previous eighteen lives and asked the King of Hell to hide what was recorded in the Book of Life and Death.

Currently, heaven’s mechanisms are confused, and calculation methods are forbidden – we might as well create a romantic story to add some explanation for the two of them.”

“Oh?” The Jade Emperor grew interested. “What kind of story?”

Li Changshou pulled several scrolls from his sleeve. “Please look, Your Majesty. This minor god prepared these early, in case of today’s situation.”

The Jade Emperor looked closely and saw the scrolls were titled ‘Finding You After Three Lives and Three Worlds,’ ‘Immortal’s Unfinished Love,’ ‘You on the Left, I on the Right.’

The Jade Emperor’s avatar’s forehead was covered in black lines as he glared at Li Changshou and cursed:

“Why didn’t you bring these out when I descended to the mortal realm!”

“Ahem,” Li Changshou laughed awkwardly. “Your story then was self-customized. These are this minor god’s free creations, inevitably somewhat different.”

The Jade Emperor looked through the scrolls carefully for a while, quickly selecting a script that matched what Li Changshou had in mind – the ‘three lives and three worlds,’ ‘golden boy and jade girl’ theme.

The Jade Emperor asked again: “What good will creating such a story for them do?”

Li Changshou analyzed methodically:

“Your Majesty, in a few years, rumors will spread through Heaven about Cloud Fairy descending to the mortal realm on her own and privately marrying a mortal.

At that time, this minor god will release this story to offset some of the subsequent effects.

Your Majesty can make a show of punishing Yang Tianyou by making him disperse all his family wealth, letting them experience some hardship…

Many immortals in Heaven are sentimental people – though they wouldn’t dare say anything openly, they would secretly sympathize with Cloud Fairy and Yang Tianyou.

At this point, Your Majesty need only find a suitable opportunity to capture them back to Heaven, reduce some of Cloud Fairy’s cultivation, and use the punishment of sacrificing longevity to fulfill their karmic relationship, making an example of them. This matter can then be concluded perfectly…”

This was already Li Changshou’s middle strategy for ensuring Erlang God Yang Jian’s smooth descent while considering all parties’ interests.

The Jade Emperor slowly exhaled and nodded in agreement, taking out a jade brush from his chest and handing it to Li Changshou.

“Thank you, Your Majesty. This minor god will humbly accept.”

“I always feel like Changgeng is deliberately setting traps for me,” the Jade Emperor’s eyes showed some disdain.

Li Changshou smiled calmly, raising his wine cup in a toast to Tianxu.

Thus, seven years later.

Things developed exactly as Li Changshou and the Jade Emperor had discussed, with the first six years being very peaceful.

In Cloud Fairy’s first year in the mortal realm, the Yang household welcomed their second young master;

In her third year of descent, they welcomed their third young lady…

The life of the Yang family was envied by immortals, jealousy-inducing for mandarin ducks, and mortals couldn’t even imagine such happiness.

But good times don’t last long – heaven had shocking changes.

First, rumors spread through Heaven, and almost overnight, even the heavenly soldiers at Heaven’s edges knew about the Jade Emperor’s sister Cloud Fairy privately marrying a mortal, disgracing Heaven’s authority.

The heavenly soldiers, generals, and immortals themselves didn’t think this was a big deal – they were just enjoying the gossip.

Li Changshou timely released the story that ‘Yang Tianyou was a reincarnated golden boy, with a heaven-ordained fate with Cloud Fairy,’ quickly correcting public opinion.

But at this time, some immortals continuously emphasized the seriousness of this matter, led by Elder Fu Yuan, bringing it up in the Crystal Palace.

The Jade Emperor calmly issued orders, commanding a team of heavenly soldiers to descend and capture the Yang family of five, bringing them to the Crystal Palace to await his judgment.

The problem appeared at this step.

Li Changshou had calculated everything about this matter and naturally wouldn’t overlook this key point.

His paper avatar secretly hid beneath the Yang mansion, quietly waiting for the heavenly soldiers to arrive;

The heavenly soldiers descended, proclaiming the Jade Emperor’s decree to capture the Yang family.

Yang Tianyou himself was very calm, having expected this, protecting his wife and children as they were bound with immortal ropes by the heavenly soldiers.

At this crucial moment, sudden change erupted!

A heavenly soldier standing just half a zhang from Yang Tianyou suddenly had his eyes fill with golden light as he struck Yang Tianyou’s crown with his palm.

Cloud Fairy wasn’t skilled in combat and couldn’t come to the rescue in time;

But a white shadow flashed extremely quickly from the side, barely managing to block in front of Yang Tianyou, hair and beard flying, eyes wide.

Li Changshou’s paper avatar erupted into action, angrily shouting:

“Who are you people!”

But just as his voice fell, Li Changshou immediately lost connection with this paper avatar, only feeling a strand of Dao rhythm forcefully destroying the divine soul power he had invested in the paper avatar!

In that flash of lightning, Li Changshou could only shift his consciousness to within the paper avatar’s sleeve, activating another backup paper avatar at full speed, but by the time this paper avatar rushed out, it was too late…

That heavenly soldier’s palm shattered Yang Tianyou’s skull, and on the other side, another heavenly soldier struck Yang Tianyou’s eldest son dead.

Li Changshou only managed to act in time to block a palm strike aimed at Cloud Fairy with his horsetail whisk, his whole body exploding with immortal power, blowing out a fierce wind…

When the wind died and clouds settled, the courtyard was in chaos.

The remaining team of heavenly soldiers stared in bewilderment at the scene before them, dumbfounded as they looked at the corpses of Yang Tianyou and his eldest son.

Yang Tianyou’s second son, only six and a half years old, held his sister tightly in his arms, his calm expression carrying a trace of confusion, his face marked by a streak of splattered blood.

Li Changshou’s paper avatar left only two transmitted messages for the heavenly soldiers here, telling them to withdraw.

One paper avatar had already taken Cloud Fairy away, sending her back to Heaven.

Other paper avatars remained here, standing guard beside Yang Jian and Yang Chan.

At the same time, thunder crashed outside the Crystal Palace as Li Changshou’s paper avatar from the Moon Palace flew out of the lightning, face cold, stepping into the hall and walking straight toward Elder Fu Yuan.

The Jade Emperor showed confusion, and the crowd of immortals was somewhat puzzled, but at this moment all could feel Li Changshou’s anger.

Master Wood hurriedly asked: “Water God…”

Li Changshou didn’t reply, having already walked to Elder Fu Yuan’s front, meeting his eyes as the latter also showed a confused expression, seeming not to know what was happening.

Li Changshou’s lips moved slightly, transmitting five characters.

Elder Fu Yuan was first shocked, then his whole body trembled slightly, his immortal body deflating like a balloon.

In just an instant, he turned to ashes, soul completely scattered!

The Crystal Palace was so quiet you could hear a pin drop as the immortals fearfully watched Li Changshou.

Only the Jade Emperor here heard what five characters Li Changshou had said, showing a thoughtful expression with divine light surging in his eyes because these five characters were:

“You went too far, Uncle-Master.”