Becoming a god starts from planting a Bodhi tree.

Chapter 496 The Heavenly Court's Foundation, The Heavenly Emperor Descends

At the end of the golden staircase, auspicious clouds surged, and a golden-armored general stood majestically, overlooking everything, as if a celestial being looked down upon all of humanity.

The sudden invitation from the Heavenly Court caught all the saints and Ji Jingqiu off guard.

Looking at the divine general high in the sky, looking down upon them, Feng Ming and the others were eager to try and pull him down directly.

I wonder if killing this person will allow me to grasp the true essence of returning to the origin.

Ji Jingqiu was the first to step onto the golden steps, followed closely by the other saints. Under the impact of this scene, the golden-armored general's eyes became even more profound.

As for Ji Jingqiu, since the other party took the initiative to show up and invite them, they had no reason to back down.

"The Heavenly Court has actually shown itself; someone has arrived..."

Ji Jingqiu muttered to himself, also somewhat puzzled.

Is this a sign that the person behind the scenes is stepping into the spotlight and no longer needs to hide?
According to the secret revealed by the sword light, it is almost impossible for a new transcendent being to be born in this era, which is a limitation of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth.

However, the other party is most likely a transcendent being from the past, and it's hard to say whether they can recover to their peak.

"If 80 billion living beings can't support one God-Emperor, then what about a True Saint?"

"Do you think everyone is from your Yanhuang Federation?" Hela retorted. "Your federation's divine path is unorthodox. I've said it before, it's a heretical path."

“To be fair, Ji Tianxing’s approach is quite interesting,” Wu Zhou suddenly interjected. “The Federation is taking a short-sighted approach, aiming for only ten thousand years, and what it’s draining isn’t the believers and the people, but the core of the gods’ own faith, which suited the Federation’s needs back then.”

Hela sneered: "That guy is indeed quite capable when he's up to no good, but at other times? Heh."

Ji Jingqiu seemed to be deep in thought, wondering if the eight hundred billion living beings that Xi Zhu mentioned were all those under the rule of the Heavenly Court.

If so, then this person would struggle to even become a Dao Ancestor, let alone transcend.

"A true saint as a general, this guy really has a solid foundation."

"The Thirty-Three Heavens is where the Heavenly Emperor resides, so where are we headed now?"

"Didn't that divine general just say that since the Heavenly Court invited us, we must go straight to the Mi Luo Palace in the Thirty-Third Heaven?"

The saints discussed amongst themselves, appearing calm on the surface, but in reality they had already secretly employed various methods of spying and divination to be vigilant about any changes in their surroundings.

When everyone safely reached the top of the golden steps, the golden-armored general spoke calmly:
"Please follow me to the summer palace."

"A summer palace?" the Holy King asked. "Whose?"

"Naturally, it is His Majesty the Heavenly Emperor," the golden-armored general said calmly.

"What does your Heavenly Emperor look like? Is he dressed in a nine-chapter robe and wearing a twelve-tassel crown?!"

The Holy King's gaze was sharp, and his tone was almost interrogative. He had not yet taken a step forward, but the divine light had already filled the space and locked onto the divine general.

Ji Jingqiu did not stop them, gazing at the distant scenery, seemingly unaware of the current conflict.

The golden-armored general's expression changed slightly. He took a step back, auspicious clouds swirling around him, and his aura surged. Only then did he speak in a deep voice:

"This is a sacred place of the Heavenly Court; violence is forbidden! You are a guest, and we have treated you with courtesy. What is the meaning of this?"

Kong Ming coughed lightly and began to play the good cop: "Holy King, please calm down and give this old man some face. Let's see what happens first."

The Holy King coldly stared at the golden-armored general and roared:
"lead the way!"

The golden-armored general's face darkened. This made it seem as if he was being forced to lead the way!

But after glancing at the saints, the general felt that their gazes were somewhat strange, and he became wary and stopped pursuing the matter.

Led by this person, the saints traversed several realms before finally arriving at a celestial palace.

Ahead stood a sacred palace, radiating countless golden rays and boundless Daoist charm. Its ancient and simple design allowed one to vaguely see gods and celestial generals guarding it from afar, some ethereal, some aloof, and some majestic.

The plaque directly above the palace gate bears two large characters written in the script of the Dao.
"Ling" and "Xiao"!
The saints looked solemn. These two Dao characters were not simple. Each one contained all the laws. If one was in harmony with the Great Dao and had outstanding fortune, one could even directly comprehend a Dao scripture that led directly to the pinnacle of the Great Dao!

At this moment, the palace gates are wide open, revealing a spacious and deep inner hall. The glow of the setting sun, eternal and unfading, illuminates every corner of the hall.

Led by the golden-armored general, the group flew towards the palace.

"What is that?"

Suddenly, Mi Yu pointed to the golden bridge high in the distance, which seemed to span all of heaven and earth, connecting the beginning and the end.

The golden bridge seems to be very far away from here, and even the eyesight of all the saints cannot see its true appearance.

The golden-armored general said calmly, "That is one of His Majesty's most precious treasures for attaining enlightenment, the Golden Bridge to the Other Shore, which can cross the Sea of ​​Bitterness and guide all living beings across it. Even if the earth, fire, wind, and water rage between heaven and earth, the Sea of ​​Bitterness will not invade the Golden Bridge, and calamities will not fall upon it!"

To guide all beings out of the sea of ​​suffering...

The group exchanged glances, remaining noncommittal.

That's a bit of an overstatement.

Among the ancestors of that time, there were those who wanted to deal with the sea of ​​suffering, but even the Lord of the Underworld, who forcibly merged with the sea of ​​suffering, could not lead sentient beings away from the sea of ​​suffering.

Even if the person behind the scenes is a Grandmaster, it's something that even the Great Dao Ancestor couldn't achieve.

The Holy King, however, gave Ji Jingqiu a meaningful look.

Soon, a majestic altar came into view of the saints.

This didn't need any introduction from the divine general; they had seen it before.

Another execution platform.

However, the divine sword hanging above was slightly different from the previous one.

"That is the God-Slaying Platform, a treasure of the Heavenly Court. There are five God-Slaying Platforms in the Heavenly Court. Anyone who brings chaos to the mortal world will be caught by the Thunder God and brought here to be chopped with knives, stabbed with spears, struck by lightning, burned with fire, and finally beheaded."

The golden-armored general spoke at a measured pace and walked with a steady step.

The saints glanced strangely at Ji Jingqiu's retreating figure. The Five Directions God-Slaying Platform? Now only four remain; one has already been destroyed by this person.

Ji Jingqiu also glanced at the God-Slaying Platform and saw that it was much quieter and not deliberately targeting him, which put him at ease.

Now there's no Youhai to take the blame for him.

However, this person's description...

If I remember correctly, Sun Wukong received the same treatment back then.

Finally, before anyone could ask, the divine general took the initiative to introduce the distant Thunder Pool and the "God-Slaying Platform," which were formed from pure divinity and Daoist energy.

The former, though clearly a Thunder Pool, contained a true dragon peeking out, its golden eyes narrowed, its abundant aura of the Great Dao making all the saints envious.

If the occasion weren't so inappropriate, someone would already be ready to start cooking and heating the oil.

"Those are the Dragon Transformation Pool and Dragon Slaying Platform bestowed upon the gods of the Thunder Department by His Majesty the Heavenly Emperor. The former is used to nurture the Ancestral Dragon, and the latter is used to slay dragons," the golden-armored general said calmly.

The saints glanced at his retreating figure and gradually began to understand what was going on.

Is this a deliberate tour to intimidate them with the company's wealth and influence?
The items were indeed quite good, especially the power of the God-Slaying Platform. They had already witnessed it; it was something no True Saint could forge, let alone five...

Unfortunately, such actions seem somewhat lacking in confidence, or perhaps they were already prejudiced?

In their view, the more the other party acted this way, the more likely the World Honored One was right, and the person behind the scenes was probably the one with the problem, definitely not at the transcendent level.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is His Majesty's summer palace. His Majesty will arrive shortly. Some foreign guests have already arrived in advance, so you may exchange greetings first."

The golden-armored general led them to the palace entrance, as if the handover had been completed.

But none of the saints moved; they all remained expressionless, or looked at him as if he were a fool.

He led them to an unknown temple, then turned and left, letting them go inside.

Even if this person were to go in personally, they would have to hesitate and observe whether there were any killing formations or forbidden spells set up inside!
At this time.

A surprised voice came from inside the hall.

"Senior Brother Kongming?"

Ok? !

Upon hearing that familiar voice, Kongming abruptly turned his head and saw a young Taoist priest with white hair rising in the hall. He was stunned for a moment, then asked in surprise:

"Junior Brother Wensu? What are you doing here?"

For a moment, Kongming subconsciously wondered if this person was his junior brother Wensu.

This junior brother clearly went to the Chaos Sea to investigate the situation of the [Old Heavenly Court] long ago, so why is he here?

"Senior Brother Extinguishing Desire, didn't you go to the Netherworld?"

"Uncle-Master Takumi..."

“Grandmaster Piaomiao…”

For a time, the main hall became the venue for the "family reunion" ceremony of all the saints.

The saints were surprised to find that their fellow disciples who had gone to the Chaos Sea to investigate the situation of the [Old Heavenly Court] had all appeared here. Some of them gradually realized what was going on.

"The Divine Path... Heavenly Court? Somewhere in the Netherworld, connected to the Heavenly Court?"

"This is the [Old Heavenly Court]! The ancestral land of the Great Dao in the past! No wonder there are traces of scattered Dao and the true essence of returning to the origin..."

Mieyu and the others suddenly looked at Ji Jingqiu's back, suspecting that he had already guessed it.

"Junior brother, is this the [Old Heavenly Court] of the Chaos Sea?!"

"Of course, didn't Senior Brother go to the Netherworld? How come he's here?"

"I entered this place from the Netherworld! Is this place safe?"

"Entering the Netherworld... To be honest, Senior Brother, half a month ago, a powerful figure from the [Old Heavenly Court] took the initiative to come out and invited all the various sects to enter, claiming that they had ended their hundred-year slumber and wanted to understand the current situation of the Post-World Sea—this matter has been reported back to the sect, but Senior Brother is far away in the Netherworld, so I suppose you haven't received it yet."

"What?! The Heavenly Court has revealed itself to the world on its own initiative?"

"Uncle-Master, why were you following that young man earlier?"

"Don't be impolite! This is the Venerable One, who once walked with the Patriarch at the end of the Path to Truth!"

"There really is a World Honored One?!"

After a while.

Both the saints and the saints in the temple were shocked.

One side was shocked that while they were busy searching for the World Honored One, the Old Heavenly Court, far away in the Chaos Sea, actually opened its doors to all the various lineages in the Boundary Sea.

The other side was even more shocked that, following the appearance of the Lord of Heaven, another ancient monster from a hundred centuries ago had surfaced.

While the saints on both sides were processing the news...

Deep within the temple, the dome above the majestic throne shone brightly, dazzling and blazing, as if a portal had been opened, from which an ancient will of holiness, sanctity, purity, and transcendence descended, seemingly leading to the infinite universe and the endless heavens and earth!
In an instant, the light and shadow in the hall changed like a dream, and as layers of divine light pierced through and descended, countless stars appeared between heaven and earth, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. In the end, they all turned into decorations on an ancient robe, which was draped over a sacred and majestic deity.

He stands here, his aura majestic and lofty, like the ancient stars hanging in the sky, looking down upon all the heavens and myriad worlds, regarding all living beings as straw dogs.

All the gods and immortals in the hall knelt on one knee at this moment, their expressions solemn, paying homage in unison.
"Welcome to the Heavenly Emperor's Arrival!"

At this moment.

Those eyes, which seemed to surpass everything in the world and could see through everything, first fell on Ji Jingqiu.

(End of this chapter)