Don't let Yu Ding take on any more disciples.

Chapter 97 I, Yuan Hong, have to lend a hand no matter what.

Within the sacred grounds of Biyou.

On the central altar, Yuanshi is in the center, Tongtian is on the left, and Laozi is on the right.

The disciples bowed to the three leaders.

Tongtian looked at his disciples and said, "You must have heard about this from Yuding."

Everyone looked at the jade cauldron with strange expressions.

Yu Ding: "..."

“In the past, your grandmaster ordered me and your two senior uncles to spread the Tao throughout the Three Realms and enlighten all living beings. However, your greed and ignorance have not been eliminated, and your anger is hard to quell. Therefore, this great calamity is due to your immortals breaking the precepts.”

Tongtian then recounted what Yuanshi had said earlier: "Furthermore, the Heavenly Court is currently in need of capable people. Therefore, your grandmaster bestowed the Investiture of the Gods upon us, ordering the three religions to discuss and compile the eight divisions of the Heavenly 365 righteous gods."

If the three of us were to directly name you, it would be unfair. Therefore, we should take advantage of this great calamity to investigate your true nature.

Those with deep blessings will continue to enjoy the path of immortality; those with lesser innate qualities will be appointed gods by Heaven; those with shallow roots and conduct will re-enter the cycle of reincarnation. Whether you achieve immortality or godhood depends entirely on your blessings and conduct. This way, you will not harbor any resentment. Do you understand?

The disciples from the three religions nodded slightly, their expressions becoming solemn.

The matter of the three religions jointly signing the Investiture of the Gods has been settled.

……

In the Heavenly Court's Tongming Hall, Haotian rested his cheek on one hand, with some memorials in front of him, and closed his eyes as if he had fallen into a light sleep.

An elderly man in white robes with an apron around his waist stood motionless by the Imperial Pool, holding a fishing rod, as still as a rock.

In the pond, the fish circled the bait, their eyes sparkling with intelligence, eagerly taking the bait one by one.

"Time to change it again!" After a long while, the old man in white sighed, cast his line, and the fish disappeared.

If fishing were that easy, then the fun of fishing would be gone.

To be honest, ever since Yaochi ascended to heaven, he has no longer been able to openly come here to catch fish.

After all, he had previously portrayed Yaochi as a diligent and hardworking Heavenly Emperor.

If you come here to slack off, it's easy for your public image to crumble and cause family discord...

But he couldn't resist, so he could only take a break during his business to transform into a heavenly chef and come here to indulge himself.

What left him speechless was that the fish and turtles he had exchanged from the mortal realm had developed sentience after spending some time in the Heavenly Court. This meant that when he changed the date and came back the next time, the fish had already developed sentience.

"Too difficult..." The old man shook his head, then suddenly his expression shifted and he vanished.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, something terrible has happened."

A spirit official hurriedly entered the Tongming Hall, his face filled with panic.

"Wandering Spirit Official, what's the matter that you're in such a panic?"

Haotian, dressed in imperial robes, opened his eyes and woke up, speaking calmly.

The wandering spirit official said urgently, "Someone has broken into Peach Mountain to rescue the sinful god Yunhua. The guardian general Tianyi, who is stationed at Peach Mountain, has been severely injured..."

"Oh, what's your name?" Haotian's face darkened, but he was secretly delighted.

The fact that the kid went to Peach Mountain and defeated the Heavenly General Tianyi means he has found the Mountain-Splitting Axe.

This speed was somewhat beyond his expectations, because he had originally estimated that it would take at least three to five days, which is equivalent to three to five years in the human world, so he went fishing as soon as he got back.

If he can truly save Yunhua, then he will have no worries when he finds an opportunity to resign.

Even if we find the Mountain-Splitting Axe, that kid is only at the True Immortal Realm. Going to Peach Mountain now? Do you really think his bunch of good-for-nothings are that useless?
It seems I need to stall for time and give that kid some time to act.

The wandering spirit official said, "General Tianyi said that the man called himself... Jianyang!"

Jianyang? Yang Jian, I suppose... Haotian smiled to himself. This kid is still somewhat clever; he's not so stupid as to keep his name unchanged.

"Your Majesty, what should we do now?" asked You Yilingguan anxiously.

"What's the rush? This arrogant fool doesn't know his own limitations. Do you think the mighty Heavenly Court is afraid of him?"

Haotian glanced at him and said, "You summon all the ministers of Taibai to Ling... never mind, let's discuss matters here instead."

After thinking for a moment, he continued, "By the way, since the Antarctic Immortal and the Eastern Emperor are not in the Heavenly Realm, there's no need to look for them."

These are considered two big shots in the Heavenly Court: one is the chief disciple of the Chan Sect, and the other is a great god formed from innate yang energy.

If these two were to make a move, even ten of those kids wouldn't be enough to defeat them.

Soon after, a group of civil and military deities from the Heavenly Court arrived in haste.

Upon entering the Tongming Hall, they saw the majestic Heavenly Emperor.

Haotian glanced at the group of literary immortals and divine generals.

The Heavenly Court he took over was a mess. Even after so many years of development, it was still understaffed and could only maintain a few departments that could keep the Three Realms running.

As for combat strength, the divine generals are basically all at the True Immortal level, while the Heavenly Immortal level experts are extremely rare.

This includes the Heavenly General, the leader of the Thirty-Six Divine Generals, as well as the Three-Headed Flood Dragon, Yunhua, Tianpeng, the Five Extreme War Gods, and others.

If it weren't for this reason, and if he had intentionally gone easy on them, how could that demon ape have gotten the chance to run wild last time?
"Your Majesty, why have you summoned us so urgently? What has happened?" asked Venus.

Haotian waved his hand, and the wandering spirit official beside him quickly explained the whole story.

"What, this happened?"

"How brave!"

"Insanity!"

"A provocation! This is a provocation against the majesty of my Heavenly Court..."

Upon hearing this, all the gods in the hall were shocked, and immediately became agitated, shouting angrily in denunciation.

As subjects of the Heavenly Court, they still possessed a sense of collective honor, and they were furious to hear that someone had challenged the might of Heaven in this way.

It should be noted that the people of the three religions are already frustrated enough on ordinary days, but who is this Jian Yang today? He disregards the laws of the Heavenly Court and actually dares to openly go and rescue their Heavenly Court's wanted criminal.

Haotian glanced at everyone and asked, "What do you all think should be done about this?"

"Your Majesty, I suggest that you immediately send someone to arrest him and punish him severely, so as to uphold the dignity of the Heavenly Court."

"If we do not punish them severely, our Heavenly Court will surely become a laughing stock in the Three Realms..."

A divine general stepped forward and eloquently explained the advantages and disadvantages of the matter.

"Tianyao, what you said makes a lot of sense."

Haotian glanced at him: "Why don't you take some men and capture him?"

The general's expression changed, and he whispered, "Your Majesty, Tianyi has been severely injured. I am like a brother to Tianyi, and I haven't gone to check on his injuries yet..."

"No need, I'm... here!"

General Tianyi, his body wrapped in bandages, was helped in and said, “Your Majesty, this man’s magical power is ordinary, but he wields a divine axe with terrifying power. Tianyao alone… cannot defeat him.”

As he spoke, he looked at the second person in the row of generals and said, "Great General Tianyu, it seems that this time it will be your turn to take action."

The Heavenly General is the leader of the Thirty-Six Divine Generals. When Yuan Hong caused trouble in the Heavenly Palace last time, this person was in seclusion trying to break through to the late stage of the Heavenly Immortal Realm.

Otherwise, that demonic ape wouldn't be so arrogant.

The Heavenly General, with a majestic expression, said, "Your Majesty, then this humble general shall take some men and go. This humble general also wants to see who is trying to save Fairy Yunhua."

Upon hearing this, General Tianyao quickly clasped his hands in a fist and said, "This humble general is also willing to share Your Majesty's burdens."

With Tianyu in charge, the chances of success are at least 98%. Going along would be like getting a windfall of battle merits for free, how awesome...

"Your Majesty, we also request permission to fight!"

At this moment, nine more divine generals stepped forward, clasped their hands in greeting, and said...

Tianyao God General turned around and glared at them, while the other gods remained calm.

Free battle merits, why not take advantage of them!
"This..." Haotian looked at Tianyu and the other eleven people with a dark expression and said, "To capture a mere True Immortal, you need so many people to go out of your way? Isn't this making a mountain out of a molehill?"

Tianyu Divine General said, "According to Tianyi, that divine axe is no ordinary weapon, and it is indeed safer to have more people."

Haotian glanced at everyone and had no choice but to say, "Granted!"

...Boom!

The axe light collided with Peach Mountain, and at that moment, the previously silent Peach Mountain suddenly glowed.

Inside the mountain, luminous chains of divine order emerged, resembling a skeleton, densely supporting the interior of the mountain.

boom……

The two clashed, shaking the heavens and earth, and erupting with a deafening roar.

A violent surge of energy and power erupted in all directions, causing the earth to tremble.

In this confrontation, the blazing axe light gradually dimmed, eventually losing its power, and with a bang, it dissipated into specks of starlight.

The man with the machete exclaimed in surprise, "It didn't split it open?"

"The power of the Heavenly Laws!"

Yang Jian stared intently at the glowing chains of order within Peach Mountain, knowing that they were the manifestation of the Heavenly Laws and Heavenly Return.

"I refuse to believe that there is any mountain in this world that I cannot cross."

The axe-wielder said unhappily, "Kid, come on, continue... This time I'll help you with the power of humanity."

"Ok!"

Yang Jian took a deep breath, nodded heavily, his gaze sharpened, then slowly closed his eyes, held the axe in his right hand, stood in mid-air, and channeled his immortal power to wield the mountain-splitting axe.

The axe that split the mountain also shone with golden light of merit!
When he reached his peak condition, he suddenly opened his eyes and swung his axe with both hands, unleashing a blazing axe beam.

With this axe strike, Yang Jian and the mountain-splitting axe achieved perfect harmony, unleashing the strongest axe strike at their peak.

laugh!
The world lost its color once more, and the golden axe light connected heaven and earth, crashing down on Peach Mountain with a deafening roar.

Boom!

A deafening roar resounded in all directions, and strong shockwaves emanated from Peach Mountain, causing the earth to tremble violently as if an earth-shattering ox had overturned, creating a truly terrifying scene.

"How is it?" Yang Jian stared intently ahead.

The sharp axe blade and the divine chains of order within Peach Mountain were locked in a stalemate, seemingly evenly matched.

Meishan.

Yuan Hong was in the main hall, flipping through something, when suddenly he looked up sharply in one direction.

The next moment, his figure disappeared and appeared on Plum Mountain outside the cave.

The little monsters in Meishan continued doing what they were doing, as if they hadn't noticed anything, except for Jin Dasheng and the other six monsters who looked bewildered.

"Big brother!"

Seeing Yuan Hong come out, the others quickly surrounded him and asked, "What happened? We just felt the ground shaking..."

"I gonna go see."

Yuan Hong shook his head. These brothers were far weaker than him, so naturally they didn't sense things as clearly as he did.

"Brother, your weapons should be almost ready. Take them for self-defense!" Jin Dasheng said.

“Oh, right!” Yuan Hong’s expression shifted, and he nodded, raising his right hand towards the distance with his five fingers making a grasping motion.

As a disciple of the Jade Cauldron Sword Immortal, how could he not be proficient in the way of the sword?
However, while fluency is one thing, ease of use is another; the sword was too light and agile, which did not suit his style of wide-ranging and powerful movements.

Therefore, over the years he has been searching for divine iron to forge a weapon for himself.

boom!
Thousands of miles away, volcanic crater erupts with fiery magma, which flows slowly.

Suddenly, with a "poof," a burst of fire shot out from the magma and out of the crater, landing directly in Yuan Hong's hand.

The crimson color on it slowly faded, revealing its true form, which turned into a silver iron rod.

"It's quite handy."

Yuan Hong weighed it in his hand, then smiled, and with a clench of his right hand, the silver iron rod vanished.

He rushed toward the place where the tremor had originated.

At the foot of Peach Mountain.

Click...

The axe's edge and the chains of order clashed and destroyed each other; this time, the axe's edge broke several links of the chains of order.

But in the end, the axe blade still shattered completely with a crack, and the violent backlash formed a halo that spread outwards.

"puff!"

Yang Jian coughed up blood and flew backward dozens of feet, staring intently at Peach Mountain before him and then at the Mountain-Splitting Axe: "How could this be? Even the Mountain-Splitting Axe can't split Peach Mountain?"

"Hiss, this mountain is really hard to open... Cough, kid, it's not my fault."

The Mountain-Splitting Axe seemed to have a headache as well: "The Heavenly Laws are the power of the laws of Heaven. Although I am a sacred artifact of merit, humanity must ultimately follow the laws of Heaven. Heaven's will is hard to defy."

Cultivating the Tao requires following the will of Heaven and responding to the needs of humanity. As a cultivator of the Tao, you should understand what this means.

"Fate is hard to defy, huh? What a convenient excuse! Why did you give me hope, only to extinguish it and turn it into despair?"

Yang Jian's eyes reddened, and he raised his head and roared, "I don't believe it! I don't want to defy the will of Heaven! I only want to save my mother..."

He picked up his axe and began hacking wildly, but all he could do was chop off pieces of rock.

The force of the recoil sent him flying backward time and time again...

"Kid, don't do this. You're only hurting yourself and it won't do any good."

The axe-wielder sighed, "If we can't save her, isn't that fate? You don't want to go against fate, but you still want to save your mother. That's a contradiction!"
"Erlang, Erlang, stop! The Heavenly Laws are formed from the laws of Heaven, you can't break them."

Taoshan Yunhua said urgently, "I'm relieved to know you've grown up safely. Don't try to save me anymore, and don't hold a grudge against your uncle."

The people from Heaven are coming soon. You must leave quickly. Remember to take good care of Xiao Chan and live on..."

"Mother, don't speak. I'll get you out of here right now. I won't leave until I've saved you."

Yang Jian shouted and swung his axe down again, only to be sent flying by the recoil.

A beam of white light landed on another mountain in the distance, transforming into an elegant figure in white robes. He looked at the scene before him with surprise, his expression subtle as he stared at the figure splitting the mountain.

"I heard that the one imprisoned under Peach Mountain is the Heavenly Emperor's sister, the Fairy Yunhua who was in charge of the Heavenly Laws."

Yuan Hong's expression was strange: "Save my mother... Is this boy Yunhua's son?"
But Taoshan has only been gone for at most twenty years, and he's already a True Immortal... Did this kid start cultivating in his mother's womb?

"stop!"

Just as Yang Jian was hacking away at Peach Mountain, eleven figures descended from the sky, releasing terrifying True Immortal pressure, with the leader radiating pressure far exceeding that of a True Immortal.

"How dare you! Who are you, wandering immortal, to attempt to release a serious criminal from Heaven!" shouted the Heavenly Radiance General.

"Go away!"

Yang Jian didn't even glance at them; he just kept urging his axe to split Peach Mountain.

"Have the Heavenly Court people arrived yet?"

Yuan Hong looked at the group of divine generals, narrowed his eyes, and grinned, revealing a set of white teeth.

He saw several familiar faces.

He might let it go if it were anything else, but once it involves the Heavenly Court...

"No matter who fights with the Heavenly Court."

Yuan Hong's eyes flashed: "If I see it, I, Yuan Hong, will definitely step in to help!"

P.S.: That's all for tonight's 4,000-word chapter. I didn't sleep well during the day, so I'm feeling really bad tonight. I'm going to sleep now, and I'll celebrate Children's Day when I wake up.

Just kidding, just kidding. I'll get some sleep and update earlier tomorrow night. Your support is what motivates me to stay up all night writing.

Finally, I'm asking for two monthly tickets to clear out my account... *cough*... *keyboard swiping*.

(End of this chapter)