“Sigh, serving in the Heavenly Court is truly too difficult.”

In the Old Man Under the Moon’s palace, a thin elder wearing festive red robes sat in his circular chair, drinking tea brought by an attendant boy while wiping sweat from his brow.

Just now, he had dealt with a Heavenly General who insisted on having him arrange a connection with a fairy from the Jasper Pool.

How could such connections be made carelessly?

Even as the Old Man Under the Moon, he couldn’t arbitrarily change others’ destinies.

Though there were indeed many ways for behind-the-scenes operations, it still depended on who was being matched!

The Old Man Under the Moon had expended great effort to placate that Heavenly General, leaving him sweating profusely.

He needed to refuse without causing displeasure, while also not offending the pursued party…

The Old Man Under the Moon’s position was truly too difficult.

Most marriages were self-formed, with a small portion being heaven-bestowed.

As the Old Man Under the Moon, he did have some authority to make changes, but that golden scissors and those red strings were heavenly merit treasures that truly couldn’t be moved carelessly!

Even for just a pair of mortals’ marriage fate, if handled poorly, it would not only damage his painstakingly accumulated merit but also bring punishment from the diligent and responsible Jade Emperor…

What were self-formed marriages?

In the rear hall was an almost endless mysterious space containing countless small clay figures. Any being in heaven, earth, or the mortal realm requiring marriage had a corresponding clay figure here.

Marriage was the foundation of propriety and the basis of principles.

The clay figures mostly corresponded to humans, with a small portion representing well-behaved demons and shamanic tribes;

When they interacted in the mortal realm, their clay figures would move closer here, then each would generate a red string of marriage fate that would intertwine, forming a marriage bond.

Love growing over time manifested as red strings slowly swaying and gradually entangling;

Love, at first sight, appeared as strings instantly tangling upon the lightest touch.

Occasionally when clay figures drifted in the wrong direction and their red strings tangled with others’ marriage strings, they naturally became extramarital affairs…

What were heaven-bestowed marriages?

When beings were born and clay figures manifested in response, some were already connected by red strings to their destined partners—these were heaven-bestowed marriages.

Besides these, some clay figures were naturally “unrestrained,” breaking free of their marriage strings and flying about dragging half-strings.

Sometimes meeting others in the same situation, strings would connect for passionate affairs, or break for fleeting romances.

The Heavenly General’s recent request wasn’t difficult for the Old Man Under the Moon to fulfill.

He only needed to tie the general’s red string directly to that fairy, and it would count as a marriage fate, generally without any karmic backlash.

But the Old Man Under the Moon had to consider the Jasper Pool fairy’s background.

Several hundred years ago, the Queen Mother had already sent someone to rebuke him. Now he dared not do such improper things regarding Jasper Pool fairies…

The Old Man Under the Moon was originally just a Heavenly Immortal cultivator, but he was among the earliest batch of immortals and gods to join the new Heavenly Court. With pure background and conscientious work, he was granted the position of Old Man Under the Moon by the Jade Emperor ten thousand years ago.

After serving for ten thousand years, the Old Man Under the Moon had experienced many benefits of this divine position and thus worked diligently without daring the slightest slack.

But the problem was that nowadays, more and more Heavenly Court immortals and gods had learned the secret of the red strings and knew that as the Old Man Under the Moon he could alter them;

His small marriage palace frequently had people sneaking in…

Some were fellow officials whom he truly couldn’t refuse;

While some thought to obtain marriages through gifts, which the Old Man Under the Moon refused entirely… what gift could outweigh the merit rewards from serving in the Heavenly Court?

But there was one type of situation the Old Man Under the Moon couldn’t and dared not refuse—those cultivators with overwhelming strength and powerful backing. His divine position was just that of a minor god before such bigshots, for example…

“Master!”

Outside the hall, two festively dressed attendant boys with ram-horn braids rushed in, shouting:

“The Great Law Master is coming! Almost at the hall entrance!”

The Old Man Under the Moon’s spirit stirred as he hurriedly stood up, quickly going to welcome him at the front hall.

This Great Law Master was an extraordinary figure—the only personal disciple of the Human Dao Patriarch, the Great Pure Sage, with unfathomable cultivation and backed by Laozi himself!

Since Laozi was the eldest among the Three Pure Ones, although this Great Law Master entered that small courtyard on Mount Kunlun slightly later, he was still respectfully called “Senior Brother” by both Guangchengzi, the first disciple of the Enlightenment School who struck the golden bell in the Jade Void Palace, and Duobao Daoren, the great disciple of the Severing School.

A true Senior Brother of the Dao Schools.

The Great Law Master didn’t have a specific Dao title because the Great Pure Sage hadn’t bestowed one, to avoid him taking on major karma;

Because he was called the Great Law Master in the [Xuandu] controlled by the Great Pure Sage, over time, this expert had accepted this name—

Xuandu Great Law Master!

From then on, the two characters “Xuandu” could refer to this first disciple of the Human Dao, while also having the meaning of a ‘place name.’

The Old Man Under the Moon understood clearly that this first disciple of the Human Dao was completely different in importance from those honorary disciples of the Great Pure Sage!

Because the Heavenly Court was newly established and weak, the Xuandu Great Law Master had been temporarily residing in the Doulu Palace during this period…

After all, if some minor troublemakers like Great Luo or Golden Immortals came to disturb the Heavenly Court, it wouldn’t be appropriate to have a Sage personally act—having Xuandu handle it would suffice.

This Great Law Master had visited the Old Man Under the Moon’s door several times before, and the Old Man Under the Moon naturally understood his business.

The Old Man Under the Moon hurried out of the hall doors and looked up to see a young Daoist floating on clouds not far away.

Looking at him—wearing a dark Daoist robe, his features neither distinct nor remarkable yet perfectly balanced;

He stood tall as a crane, his Daoist robes dancing lightly, without any ornaments or jade decorations on his person, yet giving people a sense of returning to true simplicity like uncarved jade—this was the bearing that only came with extremely profound cultivation.

The Xuandu Great Law Master was said to be among the first batch of humans in heaven and earth, without parents, molded from the earth by Goddess Nüwa, possessing some merit from the creation of humans, as well as the fortune of the Human Dao.

Before reaching the hall front, this Great Law Master clasped his hands in greeting to the Old Man Under the Moon, smiling: “Has the Old Man Under the Moon been well lately?”

“Well, well.”

The Old Man Under the Moon nodded repeatedly—if others didn’t know better, they might think this Heavenly Court deity naturally had a stooped posture.

“Great Law Master, please come in… shall we proceed as last time?”

“Thank you for your trouble, Old Man Under the Moon,” the Xuandu Great Law Master smiled warmly and walked directly into the palace, following the Old Man Under the Moon to the rear hall.

Entering the rear hall’s threshold, ahead was a mysterious starry sky.

The Old Man Under the Moon gently shook a bonsai tree at his side, and starlight flew from the sky, hovering before the two of them.

This bonsai was a posterior merit spiritual treasure—the Tree of Mutual Longing.

As the starlight faded, it divided into five piles of clay figures, each pile of varying sizes with several star-formed characters above them, categorized by type.

For example, the leftmost pile had three large characters above it: Du Xian Men.

The other piles were labeled “Xiaoyao Immortal Sect,” “Zizai Gate”… just the various Human Dao lineages.

Xuandu sighed softly and smiled: “How many pairs formed in these thousand years?”

The Old Man Under the Moon lowered his head and said: “Following your instructions when we discovered potential matches, we gave them a push;

In these thousand years, these sects have formed three hundred and sixty-two pairs in total.”

The Xuandu Great Law Master nodded slightly and said gently: “Mm, not bad. How many new people were born?”

“That… you’d need to check the registers in the Netherworld, we here only manage marriages.”

Xuandu couldn’t help but laugh, and when he laughed he liked to squint his eyes, his smile quite warm.

“I forgot about that, please don’t mind, Old Man Under the Moon.

Ah, Master truly gave me a difficult task, wanting the Human Dao to prosper moderately, yet not letting me take disciples…”

Xuandu sighed with hands behind his back, his gaze sweeping past, “This less-than-ideal method is all we have.

Old Man Under the Moon, could you show the marriages that are about to form? I’ll see how many there are.”

“Yes, please wait a moment, Great Law Master.”

The Old Man Under the Moon shook the bonsai again, and soon dozens of clay figures flew forward, their distances varying according to their relationships and likelihood of marriage.

Each clay figure had one or two red strings, with some having three or four, but never too many.

For those with long-lasting feelings, the red strings were longer;

For those with brief affairs, the strings were shorter.

Soon, the Xuandu Great Law Master’s attention was drawn to four clay figures clustered together, and he stepped forward to look at these four figures under the characters “Du Xian Men.”

The Old Man Under the Moon smiled beside him: “This is the formation of three stars surrounding the moon, very auspicious.”

The Xuandu Great Law Master nodded slightly, staring intently for a while.

“Look, Great Law Master, at his wrists and ankles—there are just hints of red threads, only the beginning of strings…

Some people are like this, surely this talented one of the Human Dao is fully focused on cultivation, not wanting to bother with worldly affairs.”

“What a waste,” Xuandu looked at the three red strings floating around this clay figure and smiled, “Old Man Under the Moon, could you help lengthen his red strings, and let them connect with the other three strings?”

“This is naturally possible, but Great Law Master, we can only help, not too appropriate to force changes…”

“While letting things follow their natural course, add a bit of appropriate assistance.”

“Ah, this minor deity will do so now.”

At that moment, the Old Man Under the Moon raised the bonsai Tree of Mutual Longing and gently tapped toward the clay figure.

Meanwhile, in East Victory Divine Continent’s Du Xian Men, in the pill room of Small Jade Peak.

Li Changshou, who had just taken a bath and was worrying about the new pill furnace, suddenly had some inappropriate images flash through his mind.

“Hmm?”

Li Changshou smiled slightly, instantly banishing the images from his mind.

In the rear hall of the Old Man Under the Moon’s palace, as the Tree of Mutual Longing slowly tapped forward, that clay figure…

Stepped back.

“Eh?”

The Old Man Under the Moon frowned, changed direction, and continued poking with the small bonsai Tree of Mutual Longing.

In the pill room of Small Jade Peak, more images appeared in Li Changshou’s mind, combining past and present lives, like Little Master Uncle in a sailor uniform, Little Junior Sister in a student outfit, and…

Uh, why was he imagining You Du wearing a full suit of powered armor?

“Dao heart is firm, illusions cannot destroy!”

The mental images instantly shattered as Li Changshou shook his head, continuing to ponder the matter of the new pill furnace.

In the Old Man Under the Moon’s palace, as the Tree of Mutual Longing approached, that clay figure gently twisted to the left.

“Hey! I just!”

The Old Man Under the Moon’s eyes widened as he grabbed the Tree of Mutual Longing and changed direction again, pointing at the clay figure, which this time… did a backflip, nimbly dodging.

“Hahaha!”

The Xuandu Great Law Master beside him couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

The Old Man Under the Moon’s face immediately became awkward—he had made a fool of himself before the Great Law Master and over such a trivial matter!

“Ha!”

The Old Man Under the Moon stroked the Tree of Mutual Longing, which instantly expanded, its branches and leaves attacking the clay figure forcefully.

On the ground, Li Changshou frowned as a beautiful pill furnace suddenly appeared in his mind, and when it opened, several graceful figures flew out…

Li Changshou simply sat cross-legged and began reciting the Heart Calming and Qi Condensing Incantation;

Joking aside, what hadn’t he seen in his previous life?

Perhaps his mind was unstable after becoming immortal, causing him to think of these unnecessary things.

What use was momentary pleasure?

At least achieve immortality first, then consider these matters! That would be truly eternal shamelessness!

No, immortality didn’t necessarily mean self-preservation… still better not to invite optional karma like marriage.

Li Changshou shouted: “Calm!”

The clay figure in the Old Man Under the Moon’s palace instantly responded with a series of movements.

Retreat…

Dodge…

Flip and jump…

Sidestep…

Thomas spin…

No matter how the Tree of Mutual Longing’s branches whipped about, not a single leaf touched it.

The Old Man Under the Moon was so anxious he was sweating profusely, almost having his qi flow reverse;

The Great Law Master beside him smiled: “Let me lend the Old Man Under the Moon a hand.”

Then, his left hand gleamed with starlight, his palm carrying yin and yang, reaching for the clay figure from afar.

The Old Man Under the Moon’s eyes widened, and he was about to shout “No!” but was half a moment too late—the Great Law Master had already grabbed the clay figure’s left arm.

But…

Crack!

The clay figure’s left arm instantly broke off, its body nimbly jumping away, and after landing steadily, it even struck a “come at me” pose.

The entire scene fell into dead silence.

“Great Law Master… we cannot, cannot force things…”

“Ahem, this thing, can it be repaired?”

“It can be, but it’s very time-consuming. Fortunately, there were no red strings on his left arm, so it will be somewhat easier to repair…”

“Then I’ll trouble the Old Man Under the Moon.

Um, Old Man Under the Moon, carry on with your work, I’ll come back another time and bring you some pills refined by the Elder Lord…

Keep a close eye on this fellow, please, please!”

After speaking, the Xuandu Great Law Master hurriedly made a Daoist salute, turned, and left, disappearing in two steps, leaving the Old Man Under the Moon alone in confusion.

A moment earlier, in the pill room of Du Xian Men.

Li Changshou frowned deeply, his mind truly in chaos.

He shook his head helplessly, reached into his robes, and from the Earth Series Number Six treasure pouch, took out one of his trump cards to calm his mind.

A scroll slowly opened, revealing exquisitely painted, heavily made-up, rainbow-robed… elderly women…

Li Changshou looked carefully, muttering: “True feelings aren’t just coveting her youthful beauty, but also accepting her nagging when she’s old.”

Instantly, those images in his mind shattered one by one, bringing peace to his heart.

“But where’s the aging in immortal cultivation?”

He smiled self-satisfiedly, putting away the precious “Hundred Beauties in Old Age Scroll,” his mind immediately becoming much more peaceful.

A man should be harsh with himself.

Speaking of which, occasionally thinking of Junior Sister and Little Master Uncle was one thing, but why would he think of You Du?

Tsk, You Du.