If you don't give up, I'd like to be your adoptive father.

Chapter 1122 The Heavenly Court's Counterattack

If Xiaoyu hadn't revealed that "the Divine Mace Protector witnessed the whole process," the Celestial Masters definitely wouldn't have let her off the hook.

Seeing that she clearly needed private space, they stopped bothering her and all followed Grey Crane Master to the "Dharma Hall" of the Human Emperor Palace.

However, despite summoning the Divine Mace Protector several times, Grey Crane Master could not bring the protector over.

"It seems that what Grand Tutor Yu said is true; the Divine Mace Protector was involved in the whole process." Gray Crane Master was not discouraged at all; on the contrary, he was even more excited.

The spell didn't fail, but the true spirit of the Divine Mace Guardian couldn't be summoned. It's highly likely that the Divine Mace Guardian was preemptively "requisitioned" by someone else.

At this moment, what urgent matter could possibly require the Divine Mace Guardian to handle?
After waiting for a full quarter of an hour, a divine light flashed, and the Divine Mace Protector finally appeared in his "true form" opposite the Gray Crane Immortal.

Upon seeing Master Grey Crane, Divine Mace Protector exclaimed, "Master, has Immortal Feather Phoenix not returned yet?"

You must have seen her before to know you need to summon someone. But since you've seen her, why didn't you ask her?

The Gray Crane Immortal asked in surprise, "Could it be that many people are summoning you, seeking information about the Heavenly Court?"

The Divine Mace Protector looked gloomy and shouted, "Master Zhang caught me and gave me ten thousand threats and eight thousand warnings, telling me to be careful with my words and actions, so as not to ruin my 'divine path'."

He predicted your reaction!

Grey Crane Master said doubtfully, "But I feel that you came from the Small Grotto Heaven of Shouyang Mountain, not directly from the Heavenly Court."

The Divine Mace Protector scanned the pairs of curious, clear black and white eyes in the hall, and said helplessly, "The Jade Gate Immortal and the others just questioned me. If you were alone, you could quietly summon me, and perhaps I could tell you something."

With so many people around, once the news gets out, even without Zhang Tianshi striking me with divine lightning, the Heavenly Emperor will strip me of my already lowly 'spiritual official' position.

Master Guan's eyes darted around, and he said, "Everyone, let's not put Taibao in a difficult position. Let's all go back!"

"Master Grey Crane, farewell!" The Celestial Masters all took their leave, leaving only the Grand Protector and Master Grey Crane in the hall.

"Now you can speak, right?" said Gray Crane Master.

Taibao, suppressing his disgust, said, "Actually, there's not much to say. Yu Fengxian is crazy, but also very powerful."

She actually used the Nine Cauldrons, in conjunction with the dead ancestral dragon in the Qinling Mountains, to activate the human destiny of the Divine Land.

Grey Crane Master was both shocked and doubtful, "Are you sure it's the destiny of humanity?"
Grand Tutor Yu, at best, is just a Grand Tutor. How could he possibly control the destiny and fortune of the Divine Land?
If she could directly manipulate the fate of humanity, she could sweep across the gods with a red light.

Doesn't that mean she can absorb and refine that fortune?

It makes no sense!

Directly plundering and refining the fortune of a nation, especially the fortune of a celestial empire, is something even a Great Immortal might not be able to do!

Practicing cultivation by borrowing the nation's fortune and manifesting the dynasty's fortune are two completely different things.

According to you, what Grand Tutor Yu activated was not just the fortune of an ordinary dynasty, but the fortune of humanity.

Qi cultivators rely on the imperial court's fortune for cultivation, which does not require very high technical skills.

Once someone receives an imperial decree promising them status and authority, a fortune commensurate with that status will automatically descend upon them.

The efficiency of leveraging luck depends on each person's cultivation and methods.

For example, if the Human Emperor appoints a Qi Refiner as an ordinary Celestial Master, the Qi Refiner will receive only ordinary fortune.

If the emperor appoints him as the Grand Preceptor, a position that surpasses all civil and military officials, then he can steal a large amount of the nation's fortune.

Therefore, wise rulers generally do not grant extraordinary individuals high status and power.

During the Journey to the West period, Li Shimin actually allowed Wei Zheng, a true immortal, to become the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, which can be considered a rather foolish act.

Li Si and Feng Qiji also understood Taoist magic, but they had long since abandoned their paths to immortality.

To use Xiaoyu's early experience as an analogy, it was like "a glass of water" being completely exhausted.

The three dukes and nine ministers in the imperial court were generally like this.

They have little capacity for tolerance, or rather, no capacity for tolerance. They can't finish the big pieces of fat that are offered to them, and can only enjoy worldly riches, unable to cultivate by borrowing the fortune of the Great Qin.

Top-tier celestial beings like Dongfang Shuo, despite their high status, were considered outsiders and were constantly helping the Qin Dynasty expand its territory, doing more work than they ate.

When Qin Shi Huang was still alive, there were many Golden Immortals in the Imperial Observatory, but no "Grand Tutor" was appointed, and the celestial masters did more work than they ate.

People like Qingsong Daotong devoted themselves to the cause until their dying breath.

Working in Daqin not only didn't earn me any money, but I actually spent all my savings meant for my future husband on it.

Another point is that the true immortals in the Qin Dynasty court all care about cause and effect and karma, and must have professional ethics.

Wei Zheng was a celestial being with a heavenly position, with unlimited potential and boundless magnanimity.

He also had a somewhat treacherous nature, acting as a representative of the Heavenly Court while colluding with Buddhism to profit at the expense of his own master, Li Shimin.

Who knows how much good fortune that guy drew from the "Prosperous Reign of Zhenguan"?

It's possible that Wu Zetian's subsequent usurpation of the Tang Dynasty was related to the significant decline of the nation's fortunes in the early Tang period.

But both Wei Zheng and Dongfang Shuo passively waited for the dynasty's fortune to fall upon them.

They only felt that their cultivation speed had increased, but they were unable to directly capture the dynasty's fortune, let alone control it.

Grand Tutor Yu is not manipulating the fortune of an ordinary dynasty.

The red light above the head of the ancestral dragon contained the destiny of the Qin Dynasty and the fortune of humanity.

Even small kingdoms like Western Shu and Yelang possessed the potential to become dynasties.

However, these are not examples of human destiny; Western Shu and Yelang cannot represent the entirety of human destiny.

They are part of humanity.

The Qin Dynasty, being the legitimate successor of the Central Plains, could indeed represent humanity.

However, the imperial fortune of the Qin Dynasty itself and the human fortune of the human race should actually be considered separately.

Imagine that the destiny of humanity is a great river with countless tributaries. Western Shu and Yelang are just small tributaries, while the destiny of the Great Qin is the main channel.

As the Qin Dynasty lost its mandate of heaven, the main river channel of the Qin Dynasty continued to dry up.

However, Grand Tutor Yu used this semi-dried-up "main channel" to move the entire river.

The waters of countless tributaries surged with the main river, and the waves overlapped to form the red beam of light above Zulong.

If she wished, she could directly swallow the "wave," allowing herself to enter a profound and mysterious state, with the secrets of the universe actively flowing into her mind.

Her cultivation and realm soared, and she easily overcame various bottlenecks.

This is the greatest wonder of Fulongting: cultivating by borrowing the fortune of humanity.

If Xiaoyu were like Fuqiu Gong, just one step away from attaining enlightenment, he might be able to directly borrow the fortune of humanity to become a Great Luo Golden Immortal.

In fact, this is exactly what Fuqiu Gong and his companions were pursuing.

Of course, with only three years left in its reign, the Qin Dynasty was certainly not enough to satisfy the appetites of Fuqiu Gong and his ilk.

More importantly, even when Fuqiu Gong came to Xianyang to serve as the Grand Preceptor of the Qin Dynasty, he was unable to directly extract the "human destiny of the Qin Dynasty".

They also have to passively wait for good fortune to come their way.

This is the main reason why Grey Crane Master was shocked and puzzled.

He is a veteran Taoist master, and he knows his stuff.

"There is no need for doubt, True Man. If it weren't for the destiny of humanity, would the Jade Emperor have yielded?"
The Great Celestial Venerable has a special status; He clashes with the fortune of humanity, resulting in the loss of more than just a portion of His fortune.

If the Heavenly Emperor goes against humanity, he may lose his status.

Not only Him, but all the gods in Heaven were like this, so they were terrified and hid in the Lingxiao Palace, not daring to show their faces, while Yu Fengxian ran wild and arrogantly outside.

As for how Yu Fengxian did it, the gods of Heaven are still discussing it in their court meeting!
Before he left the Heavenly Court, an angel had already gone to the Fire Cloud Cave.

The angels wanted to consult the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.

After all, the fate of humanity is guarded by the Fire Cloud Cave, and no one understands it better than them. Perhaps the angels can even persuade the Three Sovereigns to uphold justice for the Heavenly Court and severely punish Yu Fengxian.

At the very least, they would demand that Emperor Yu retrieve the Nine Tripods of Yu in the Qinling Mountains.

"The gods of Heaven are certain of at least one thing: without the Nine Cauldrons, Yu Fengxian is nothing," said the Divine Mace Protector.

Grey Crane Master asked, "Who is the angel who went to Fire Cloud Cave?"

“Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden,” said the Divine Mace Protector.

Grey Crane Master's expression changed slightly, and he muttered, "This is a big problem. Given the relationship between the Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden and the Yellow Emperor, no, I must immediately remind Grand Tutor Yu to make preparations as soon as possible."

Taibao's eyes flickered slightly, and he said, "You should also remind her to be wary of the Qin court officials."

Taibai Xingjun once told the Jade Emperor in the Lingxiao Palace that he originally planned to divide the 'Western Palace Administration' into twenty parts, leaving Yu Fengxian all alone.

The Star Lord was very confident that he only needed to take out ten portions of the money to bribe the powerful officials in Xianyang, which would be enough to make them "obey the will of Heaven" and oppose Yu Fengxian's "going against the will of Heaven".

The position of Chief Administrator of the Western Palace was the price the Heavenly Court paid to recruit Yu Fengxian.

Of course, this was the price when the Four Heavenly Kings first descended to the mortal realm; it's definitely different now.

Yu Fengxian is now the most wanted criminal in the Three Realms, though nameless!

Master Grey Crane lowered his voice and said, "Did Patriarch Zhang say these words to you? What exactly did he mean?"

Taibao sighed, "Yu Fengxian has slapped the face of the Heavenly Emperor and all the gods; no one doesn't hate her to the bone."

However, she always maintained basic respect for Master Zhang.

When Taibai Xingjun, as an angel, tried to negotiate with her, Yu Fengxian refused to give him face and made him botch his job.

Master Zhang was appointed as the 'Archangel of All Powers' in a time of crisis, and he successfully completed his mission.

They managed to get rid of Yu Fengxian, who was in a frenzy, at a relatively low cost.

Humans aren't plants or trees; how can they be without feelings? Even Master Zhang has to appreciate her kindness and reciprocate it!

The Gray Crane Immortal seemed to have an epiphany.

Taibai Xingjun was a confidant of the Jade Emperor, and Zhang Zushi was also a close minister of the Jade Emperor.
The key was to pass on a message quietly, which was both beneficial and costless, and Master Zhang did not take any risks.

Taibai Xingjun said those words in public at a court assembly.

All the gods heard it, and it was bound to spread sooner or later; even Grand Tutor Yu himself could have foreseen it.

This is merely an indirect reminder to Grand Tutor Yu.

"Even the plaque of the Lingxiao Palace was taken down and brought back as a local specialty, and that's only a relatively low price?" said Gray Crane Master awkwardly.

"Compared to attacking the Lingxiao Palace and trying to drag all the gods down with the red light, the current situation is indeed much better."

At least the Great Celestial Venerable was very satisfied and publicly commended Master Zhang, praising him for his loyalty, courage, decisiveness, and fearlessness in the face of danger. He also bestowed upon him two golden flowers, three bottles of imperial wine, and a jade ruyi.

As for the plaque

Taibao's dignified, square-shaped face also began to contort. "Yu Fengxian is such a brainless rascal!"
After she left, the Jade Emperor flew into a rage in the Lingxiao Palace and cursed for quite a while!
All the star deities and gods joined Him in cursing.

They called her a scoundrel, ungrateful, and arrogant because she had a wild and unruly nature.
Many deities also offered advice and strategies to suppress Yu Fengxian from various aspects.

The previously mentioned plan to send angels to the Fire Cloud Cave was merely an immediate strategy.

Many more strategies are under discussion.

For example, she could inform the Xuanmen Golden Immortal of her determination to defy fate.

The Great Tribulation of the Investiture of the Gods: All Twelve Golden Immortals of the Chan Sect were caught in the tribulation.

Now, during the great calamity at the end of the Qin Dynasty, the number of Golden Immortals who have entered the calamity is far more than twelve.

Yu Fengxian wasn't arguing with the Heavenly Court; she was defying the 'Heavenly Dao'.

All immortals and deities who "follow the will of Heaven" regard her as a great enemy.

Grey Crane Master frowned and said, "Grand Tutor Yu can activate the human destiny, is that considered 'defying the heavens'?"
If she is rejected and rejected by 'God', how can she inspire the spirit of humanity?
Could it be that the predetermined destiny is inaccurate?

The Divine Mace Protector said, "I also asked Master Zhang, and Master Zhang's meaning is that this possibility cannot be ruled out."

Therefore, they will never stop making small moves against Yu Fengxian. But before the Qin Dynasty is completely destroyed and Yu Fengxian flees to the west, the Heavenly Court will never again make a big fuss and send troops to punish her like this time.

There wouldn't even be a force capable of representing the Heavenly Court that could directly clash with Yu Fengxian or the Great Qin Dynasty.

Grey Crane Master nodded slightly and said, "It is indeed unwise to directly confront the legitimate dynasty of Shenzhou."

The "official calendar" originally represented the mandate of heaven, with the Heavenly Court and the Heavenly Emperor acting on behalf of heaven.

In the confrontation, the earthly dynasty, having nothing to lose, was not afraid of those wearing shoes. If the Heavenly Emperor made a careless move, he would suffer a great loss.

It's pointless and comes at a huge cost.

Taibao said, "Isn't that right? Master Zhang was still complaining that if Yu Fengxian hadn't been so 'low-key' and had shown her ability to control the human destiny earlier, the Four Heavenly Kings and Taibai Xingjun wouldn't have descended to the mortal realm."

Killing Yama, the King of Hell, and causing chaos in the Underworld are certainly sensational cases that shake the Three Realms, but they can be delayed for 'a few days,' to settle scores later! There's absolutely no need to rush."

Grey Crane Master said, "Is the case in the Underworld not completely over yet?"

Taibao shook his head and said, "It's definitely over. The Heavenly Emperor signed Yu Fengxian's petition and made his stance clear in public."

Three more Yama Kings are being held accountable and will be cast into the cycle of reincarnation; how pitiful!

Grey Crane Immortal exclaimed in surprise, "They were killed by Grand Tutor Yu, how can we hold them accountable? Filing a complaint with the Heavenly Court is our duty!"

Taibao said, "Regardless of whether they are guilty or not, the Jade Emperor said that they deliberately provoked trouble and stirred up conflict between humanity and divinity."

Of course, the Jade Emperor also listed his reasons.

Yu Fengxian, as the Grand Tutor of the Qin Dynasty, sent a petition in advance explaining the reasons, and his attitude was extremely respectful.

However, the underworld did not follow the old custom and sent a procession of young boys to greet her, which was very arrogant.

Yu Fengxian was polite and courteous, while Yama, the King of Hell, was arrogant and domineering. There were a total of twenty-seven reasons for his judgment!

The moment Yu Fengxian rode the Ancestral Dragon and soared through the sky, everything she had done before was right, and everything Yama did was wrong. Even the smallest mistake would become a major crime for which she would be blamed.

If one's abilities are inferior, and one doesn't obediently submit and humble oneself, but instead leaves behind incriminating evidence, what can be done?

At this point, Taibao couldn't help but think of the past and sighed, "In a way, those Yama kings in the underworld deserved it."

At such an advanced age, he's not as insightful as Yu Fengxian.

Ten years ago, Yu Fengxian asked someone for the 'Divine Land Life-Protecting Talisman'.

That is, a list of people and forces in China that should not be provoked.

Now, Yu Fengxian herself has been listed as a 'life-protecting talisman', 'In the West there is a brain-clamping wind, descending into the Nine Netherworlds to slay Yama, ascending to the Heavenly Palace to overthrow the Heavenly Emperor'.

She should have entered the 'life-saving charm' long ago. The King of Hell, who governs life and death, should be more sensitive than ordinary people!

Grey Crane Master hesitated and said, "But Grand Tutor Yu's imposing presence is due to the Nine Cauldrons of Yu the Great. If Emperor Yu in the Fire Cloud Cave were to personally take away the Nine Cauldrons, wouldn't Grand Tutor Yu immediately fall off his 'life-protecting talisman'?"

"Why are you worried about her? She's shrewd and calculating; she's definitely already thought of a solution."

Master Zhang said that with her control over the Nine Cauldrons, even Yu the Great might not be able to take away the Nine Cauldrons of Yu the Great.

"If that weren't the case, the Heavenly Emperor could have simply sent the Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden. Why bother having a group of ministers whispering and discussing strategies to deal with Yu Fengxian?" Taibao said.

“You seem to have a lot of confidence in her,” said Gray Crane Master.

Taibao sighed, "If you had seen her arrogant and domineering behavior in front of the Lingxiao Palace, you would have done the same as me."

I don't just have confidence in her now, I no longer dare to underestimate her. No matter what she does, I feel she must have something to rely on, and she must have a trump card up her sleeve.

I suspect the gods in Heaven feel the same way.

(End of this chapter)