Regrettable.

The outcome was, overall, quite regrettable.

Li Changshou had made ninety-seven percent of preparations to incite conflict between the Enlightenment Teaching and Western Teaching today, but the Western Teaching’s Sage never appeared, leaving him unable to fully escalate the tensions.

With the Enlightenment Teaching’s Senior Brother arriving, there naturally could be no follow-up.

However, from now on, Yang Jian should no longer stay too close to the Enlightenment Teaching, nor be greatly influenced by them.

This had already achieved Li Changshou’s previous expectations.

After East Wood Officer finished proclaiming the edict, Yang Jian glanced at Mount Lingshan, snorted coldly, and flew toward the Western Heaven Gate on his cloud.

The Enlightenment Teaching immortals departed separately, with Guangcheng Zi exchanging a glance with Li Changshou before leaving;

The former’s gaze was rather complex, while Li Changshou’s was completely composed.

Guangcheng Zi didn’t say much more, exchanging Daoist salutes with Li Changshou before turning to leave with True Person Taiyi still on his sleeve.

Li Changshou blinked, feeling that True Person Taiyi’s earlier words were missing some essence, building up but not hitting the crucial point…

He was quite curious about it.

The Enlightenment Teaching would certainly be at a disadvantage against the Severing Teaching, even with the Human Teaching and Heavenly Court maintaining absolute neutrality.

Their failure to prepare for rainy days and maintain some backup with the Western Teaching would truly put them in a passive position when the Great Tribulation truly arrived.

The Great Tribulation was just such a tribulation – requiring enough experts to die, requiring disciples from both teachings to fill the Heavenly Court’s vacant deity positions.

Regarding this, Li Changshou objectively understood subjectively disagreed, and emotionally remained neutral.

He could only maintain neutrality as much as possible to properly fulfill his role in the main tribulation.

The meaning the Dao Ancestor had pointed out that day when keeping him for extra instruction was to have him, Li Changshou, step beyond the Human, Enlightenment, and Severing teachings, to stand at the broader level of the Dao Gate, Heaven and Earth, living beings, and the Great Tribulation.

Hmm…

Why did it feel like the Dao Ancestor’s treatment of him resembled his treatment of Yang Jian?

Must be his imagination.

Had to be his imagination.

Li Changshou inwardly sighed. While the Enlightenment Teaching immortals hadn’t yet disappeared at the horizon’s edge, he made a Daoist salute toward Mount Lingshan, turned to jump onto the Golden Roc’s back, and pursued the group of Heavenly Soldiers and Generals.

Yang Jian didn’t enter the Heavenly Court.

He flew to the Western Heaven Gate and sat cross-legged before it, recovering his dao body’s expenditure, absorbing the power of the second drop of Ancestral God blood, and comprehending the might of the Divine Eye.

Seeing this, East Wood Officer hesitated for a moment before still moving forward on his cloud.

Wood Officer had intended to tell Yang Jian that he should go to Lingxiao Palace to express gratitude, and should also report to Tongming Palace to register his title.

But before he could speak, he heard Li Changshou’s voice transmission saying that Yang Jian’s case was an exception.

Today Yang Jian had wrecked Mount Lingshan, made a name for himself, and finally accepted the Heavenly Court’s conferment – this had already increased the Heavenly Court’s prestige considerably, counting as an achievement.

East Wood Officer thought briefly, then cupped his hands toward Yang Jian and smiled:

“Pure Origin Wondrous Dao True Monarch, might I have a word with you? I am the Heavenly Court’s Wood Officer. Many matters concerning Fairy Yunhua’s entry into the Heavenly Court back then were handled by me.”

Yang Jian opened his eyes, stood up, and returned Wood Officer’s gesture, his eyes carrying some questioning.

“What guidance does Wood Officer have?”

Wood Officer said gently: “Your name has spread across the Ancient Wilderness today, your future prospects are limitless – you’ve truly won back some face for your mother. What are your plans next? If you have any difficulties, please don’t hesitate to tell this poor Daoist…”

As he spoke, Wood Officer transmitted: “Don’t blame Changgen for arranging things this way. Changgen has been running east and west for your matters, restless for a hundred years. That’s just Changgen’s nature – seeking stability in everything, striving to avoid variables whenever possible, which is why he took complete charge of your cultivation path. But he truly hasn’t schemed against you or used you for anything… However, in this matter, he did want to use your anger to create some rifts between Enlightenment Teaching and Western Teaching. This can’t be blamed on Changgen either – the Western Teaching truly acts improperly, and back then even attempted to infiltrate the Heavenly Court, using your mother to scheme against His Majesty the Jade Emperor.”

Yang Jian couldn’t help but purse his lips and frown, looking at this somewhat chatty Wood Officer before him. He cupped his hands again and asked:

“Could I trouble Wood Officer to convey my regards to my mother?”

“Why not go in yourself and talk with your mother?”

Wood Officer looked at several figures flying over from the distance and said gently: “I know you have anger in your heart. That you can remain so calm now is enough to prove your dao heart’s resilience. Ah, if it were this old man, being caught between great powers, being schemed against and arranged from birth – my dao heart would have collapsed long ago.”

Yang Jian: …

“Junior would rather wait here.”

Wood Officer said: “There’s no need to be too rigid with the Heavenly Court. In the future, we’ll serve in the same palace though not as subjects to each other, so I hope for much mutual support.”

As he spoke, Wood Officer took out a treasure pouch from his sleeve.

Yang Jian hurriedly declined, but the Wood Officer said:

“If you could take your mother away today, would you have her live in a grass hut? She is a princess of the Heavenly Court, the Jade Emperor’s sister – how noble is her status? This is for Yunhua, not for you. This old man watched Yunhua grow up back then… Ah, let’s not say more. I’ll report to His Majesty that you feel guilty and don’t wish to enter Heaven’s Gate, and His Majesty will likely release your mother accordingly. Remember, now is not the time to be temperamental. That statement of yours about obeying commands but not proclamations has already violated a major taboo – Changgen will truly have a headache over this.”

With that, Wood Officer waved his hand, stuffed the treasure pouch into Yang Jian’s hands, and turned toward the Western Heaven Gate.

Watched her grow up?

Wasn’t Mother originally in the mortal realm?

Yang Jian looked into the treasure pouch and couldn’t help but frown.

The Heavenly Court… was so wealthy…

Just then, several loud laughs came from the side – it was True Person Taiyi, released by Guangcheng Zi, arriving on clouds with True Person Jade Void, and behind him was the excited Yang Chan.

“Brother!”

Yang Chan called out softly, rushing forward. Yang Jian’s constantly tense face revealed a slightly weak smile.

Leaving this reunited pair of siblings, for now, let’s speak of True Person Taiyi and True Person Jade Void actively seeking out Li Changshou. True Person Jade Void made a Daoist salute to Li Changshou, who returned half a salute.

Jade Void said: “Thank you for your hard work.”

Li Changshou smiled, gesturing for the Golden Roc to take his avatar inside while his true form flew out from his sleeve, retrieving the Primordial Yellow Tower back to his nascent soul.

As for why he had been constantly wearing the Primordial Yellow Tower…

In his previous life, he would wear a helmet while riding a bicycle; in this life, he naturally needed some safety measures while riding a bird.

True Person Taiyi sighed: “Senior Brother still doesn’t want to fall out with the Western Teaching, ah.”

“It’s not bad,” Li Changshou transmitted, “Today Yang Jian killed a Western Teaching disciple and wrecked their mountain gate, counting as half his revenge. Later we can secretly build momentum, diminishing the Western Teaching’s prestige, thus completely destroying their reputation.”

Incidentally, this would also add some ‘face’ considerations when the Enlightenment Teaching and Western Teaching joined forces.

— Of course, this couldn’t be said directly.

True Person Jade Void asked: “Can Fairy Yunhua reunite with her children now?”

“Don’t worry, Senior Brother, my avatar has gone to arrange it.”

Li Changshou smiled: “However, it also depends on Fairy Yunhua’s wishes. I think it would be better for Fairy Yunhua to resolve her crimes and cultivate peacefully in the Heavenly Court, able to gain more merit and eat Peaches of Immortality every year, rather than living with her children. Children grow up and will always have their ideas. However, their family has suffered many twists and turns, so they need to spend some time together… Oh right, Senior Brother Taiyi, what else did you want to say earlier?”

“Ah, actually I didn’t have many thoughts then, and today’s mouth doesn’t have the urge of certain words about to surge forth.”

True Person Taiyi habitually tucked his hands in his sleeves, his mouth twitching with lingering interest.

“I originally wanted to say that the Ancestral Master once said the West would certainly flourish greatly – perhaps everyone didn’t hear Ancestral Master’s words clearly at the time. What Ancestral Master probably meant was they would certainly flourish in construction. That’s all I can manage now, ah, still unable to achieve that previous state of wonderful sentences coming naturally.”

Li Changshou: …

He silently took out a special treasure from his sleeve, handed it to True Person Jade Void, and instructed: “This should be used when needed.”

True Person Jade Void took the treasure and found it was a deep blue pearl connected to two long strips, with Five Elements power flowing over it, seemingly a binding-type treasure.

Jade Void exclaimed in surprise: “Is this a treasure refined by the Lord of Lao?”

“Indeed,” Li Changshou nodded gravely, “Whether we can avoid the three teachings going to war over some unnecessary small matters now rests entirely with Senior Brother.”

“Good,” True Person Jade Void’s expression became solemn, “Your brother will do his best.”

True Person Taiyi blinked on the side, feeling…

He was being targeted.

…

After chatting briefly with True Person Jade Void and Taiyi, his avatar also entered Lingxiao Palace with Wood Officer.

Li Changshou divided his attention, his true form wearing the appearance of an old divine immortal, approaching Yang Jian.

Yang Jian showed vigilance, instinctively protecting Yang Chan behind him, but fortunately didn’t directly grasp the Three-Pointed Double-Edge Spear.

Li Changshou retrieved the treasure banner floating behind Yang Jian, put it in his sleeve, and smiled: “Does True Monarch have time to visit the Six Paths of Reincarnation in the Netherworld with me?”

Yang Jian slightly frowned, his eyes showing some resistance.

Li Changshou said: “To see your father.”

Yang Jian immediately nodded in agreement, about to move forward with Yang Chan.

Li Changshou said: “Let True Person Jade Void send Yang Chan into the Heavenly Court to reunite with Fairy Yunhua first. His Majesty the Jade Emperor is already drafting an edict to pardon your mother’s transgressions. The Six Paths Reincarnation Disk is a Heavenly Dao treasure, separated from the Ancient Wilderness – ordinary people cannot enter.”

Yang Jian hesitated, turning his head to look at Yang Chan, whose eyes immediately reddened.

Just as she was about to speak, a stream of light flew from the side, a finger precisely touching Yang Chan’s neck, skillfully supporting her with immortal power.

Behind that finger appeared a delicate face – it was Spirit Zhenzhu.

“Leave it to me, don’t worry!”

Yang Jian couldn’t help but show a bitter smile, saying softly: “Senior Brother Spirit Zhenzhu, you knew everything?”

“Well…”

Spirit Zhenzhu couldn’t help feeling somewhat awkward, looking toward Li Changshou for help. The latter chuckled twice and said:

“Let’s go, the sooner we leave, the sooner we return. Don’t keep your mother waiting long.”

Yang Jian lowered his head and sighed, first going to pay respects to his master and uncle master. Without much conversation, he hurriedly returned to Li Changshou’s side.

Li Changshou condensed a white cloud nearby, sitting cross-legged in a corner. Yang Jian sat cross-legged on it, his expression ultimately desolate.

Under the watchful eyes of True Person Jade Void and True Person Taiyi, Li Changshou, and Yang Jian, separated by half a zhang, rode the cloud toward the East Sea.

Though one could enter the Netherworld from all four directions of heaven and earth, the East Sea was undoubtedly the most stable, with the lowest probability of encountering ambushes.

Li Changshou using his true form to ride the cloud was naturally as swift as lightning, with immortal power enveloping both of them, neither hearing wind nor feeling jolts.

They remained silent halfway through until they were above the East Sea.

“Do you feel powerless?”

Li Changshou asked gently.

Yang Jian was stunned, turning his head to the side, but his nose made a sound of “mm” indicating agreement.

Li Changshou smiled, raising his hand to slide across his face, returning to his youthful Daoist appearance. His white hair gradually darkened as it fluttered, then was bound by a headband that tied itself.

“If there have been any offenses, please forgive me,” Li Changshou said. “But the Heavenly Court truly needs a rising star who can contend with powerful beings. This represents the hope of the Heavenly Court, and also the hope of this heaven and earth. From your own experience, how do you think the balance between heavenly order and the freedom living beings pursue should be achieved?”

Yang Jian slightly frowned and asked: “Do all Heavenly Court deities like to chat like this, testing others at the slightest disagreement?”

“Not at all,” Li Changshou sighed, “I just want to understand your inner thoughts better. Never mind, as a form of apology, let me give you some hidden benefits.”

As he spoke, several memory-recording pearls flew out from Li Changshou’s sleeve, floating before Yang Jian.

Yang Jian looked carefully for a while, soon becoming absorbed in their contents, beginning to check them one by one.

They showed the daily life at an academy of a certain Emperor of Heaven during his mortal tribulation, with his inevitable childhood sweetheart and his future mortal brother-in-law.

Young people laughing, arguing, and scolding, not knowing the taste of worry.

Li Changshou said slowly: “Once His Majesty sits in that position, he must control his emotions, cannot be impulsive, cannot express too much, and must even constantly appear more divine. The Three Realms are too vast – for the Heavenly Court to establish an order protecting the weak in the Three Realms, it needs an Emperor of Heaven who won’t act on emotions.”

Yang Jian responded, immersed in those scenes, unable to return to his senses for a long time.

Li Changshou smiled and didn’t say more, leading Yang Jian swiftly through their journey, passing through the Netherworld, entering Fengdu, and successfully arriving within the Six Paths Reincarnation Disk.

Li Changshou led Yang Jian forward to pay respects to Great Virtue Houtu;

Great Virtue Houtu brought forth Yang Tianyou’s fully repaired soul, then disappeared together with Li Changshou.

Leaving aside the scene of Yang Jian and Yang Tianyou’s father-son reunion, which was mostly just looking at each other speechlessly with thousands of tears, one kneeling in respect, the other with tears streaming down his face.

Let’s speak of Li Changshou being taken away by Lady Houtu, actually just hiding their traces several hundred zhang away.

“Yang Jian is quite suited for the Nine Mysteries Art. However, reaching such a level in such a short time,” Great Virtue Houtu said softly.

Li Changshou smiled and nodded beside her, saying: “He is, after all, a child of the Great Tribulation.”

“Then what about you?”

Lady Houtu blinked, her gentleness carrying some coyness, “You’ve already perfectly cultivated the technique I created, and in such a short time – it makes one feel quite face-less.”

Li Changshou immediately smiled awkwardly and hurriedly said: “It’s all thanks to the Ancestral God’s blood bestowed by my lady.”

Houtu smiled without speaking, lightly brushing past the topic.

“In the Purple Void Palace, did the teacher tell you about the Great Tribulation?”

“Yes,” Li Changshou nodded, “It is quite thorny.”

Houtu thought for a moment, seeming somewhat hesitant, but finally still asked: “Did the teacher mention the matter of Pangu God’s remaining will?”

Li Changshou frowned and said: “My lady knows of this matter as well?”

“I am quite close to the Heavenly Dao, naturally able to sense its changes.”

“Then my lady’s meaning is…”

Beautiful features full of helplessness appeared on Houtu’s face as she muttered softly: “If it’s necessary to erase father god’s remaining will for the sake of heaven, earth, and living beings, then we can only do so.”

Li Changshou secretly sighed in relief.

He had truly feared Lady Houtu would request him to protect that will’s avatar.

Lady Houtu asked: “How are the Seven Emotions lately?”

“Playing in the mortal world, naturally safe and sound,” Li Changshou smiled, “My lady need not worry, the Seven Emotions avatars have been active within the Shang tribe’s territory. When they tire of playing, I will bring them to cultivate in the Heavenly Court.”

“Thank you for your trouble.”

“Being able to do things for my lady is this junior’s blessing.”

Houtu shook her head and smiled lightly, watching the figures of Yang Jian and Yang Tianyou, seemingly lost in thought.

What surprised Li Changshou was that Yang Jian neither interfered much with Yang Tianyou’s reincarnation matters nor inquired about his father’s next life.

Yang Tianyou had ultimately passed away.

In the Six Paths Reincarnation Disk, seeing off his father’s soul, Yang Jian knelt for a long time without rising, unknown whether he shed a man’s tears.

Li Changshou naturally wouldn’t treat Yang Tianyou poorly, having the King of Hell arrange good fortune and luck for his next life.

Whether to be a mortal or to cultivate in the next life was also left to Yang Tianyou’s own decision.

What made Li Changshou feel this family was somewhat strange was that Yang Tianyou also actively proposed to the King of Hell to hide all information about his reincarnation, cutting off connections with Yunhua, Yang Jian, and Yang Chan.

Li Changshou: …

This family was just strange.

Within the Six Paths Reincarnation Disk, Li Changshou stood aside waiting for half a day before Yang Jian finally silently stood up and said softly:

“Uncle Master… thank you.”

Li Changshou smiled, though he would have preferred to hear the title ‘Star-Lord’.

“Let’s walk and talk calmly,” Li Changshou said gently. “I too dislike how people always say it’s for your good while arbitrarily arranging our destinies. I also know your grievances against me probably won’t disappear for ten thousand years. But none of this matters – today let’s have a good chat about Heavenly Court matters.”

Yang Jian frowned and said: “What does Heavenly Court matters specifically have to do with me?”

“You’ll know in the future,” Li Changshou took out a pouch wrapped in layer upon layer of restrictions from his sleeve and smiled, “Would you keep this for me?”

Yang Jian’s expression became solemn as he stared at the treasure pouch for a while before accepting it.

Li Changshou said: “Don’t show it to others casually, not even your mother, master, or sister – don’t let them know about it, and don’t open it randomly. This item is of great importance, though there are no treasures inside, only some words and strategies from me. If one day I leave this realm, and heaven, earth, or the Heavenly Court encounters insurmountable difficulties, or if you feel you’ve fallen back into that desperate state of being controlled by me like before, the seals on it will dissipate on their own. At that time, you can open it and take a look – inside are the strategic plans I’ve left for you.”

Yang Jian asked: “Why give it to me?”

Li Changshou smiled a very faint smile that nevertheless imprinted itself in Yang Jian’s dao heart.

“Because I trust you because you are Yang Jian.”

Yang Jian silently gripped the treasure pouch, storing it close to his body, and solemnly nodded to Li Changshou.

“Let’s go, talk about other things,” Li Changshou said gently, making a gesture of invitation to Yang Jian.

Yang Jian looked at Li Changshou’s profile, his eyes showing less hostility and more admiration;

As the two chatted freely in this place separated from the Three Realms, Li Changshou’s principles about order, living beings, strength and weakness, and balance made the admiration in Yang Jian’s eyes increasingly apparent.

‘Perhaps I should get to know this powerful minister of the Heavenly Court anew.’

Yang Jian thought thus, and the rift with Li Changshou was unconsciously buried in his heart, temporarily ignored.

As the saying goes, floating in the rivers and lakes, how can one avoid being cut?

Star-Lord Taibai’s persuasion was indeed… impossible to guard against.