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

Chapter 1235 Notice at the Door

"What are Grand Tutor and Master Qin talking about? They've been talking for so long," Yang Li asked curiously.

Xiaoyu countered, "Do you know about the Shimen Clan? They are the oldest family, dating back to the time when humans were first created, and their lineage has never been broken."

"So what?" Yang Li didn't quite understand.

“They know a lot of ancient secrets, and I talked to them about it. My master, Qin, was very generous and willing to lend me his family's secret manuals,” Xiaoyu said.

"Ancient secrets." Yang Li curled his lips, quite unconvinced, and said, "Grand Tutor, although you are now renowned and the gods of Heaven fear you, you have spent so much time in the mortal world that your knowledge and experience are ultimately somewhat shallow."

The term "Shimenshi" simply means "a lineage with a long history".

How many immortals have lived directly from the Primordial Era to the present day?
When you have time, visit the various Taoist temples and chat with the senior figures.

What secret? Why not just ask directly?
With the Grand Tutor's level of cultivation, he was actually qualified to participate in the Heavenly Dharma Debate Conference.

These are all discussions by great immortals, and even the Dao Ancestor would offer his comments from the sidelines.

"Go directly to the Dao Ancestor; he knows everything."

Xiaoyu said calmly, "You are the one with shallow knowledge! Some questions can only be answered by the person involved."

You ask the Dao Ancestor, "Can his perspective and feelings be the same as those of mortals?"

At least when she listened to her teacher tell stories, she could deeply feel the vicissitudes of time, the weight of history, and the hardships of humanity.

Go and ask the Dao Ancestor. The Dao Ancestor cultivates in the mountains and may not have really paid attention to insignificant mortals.

Moreover, she borrowed secret texts from her master's clan mainly to study the great aspirations of the sages in attaining enlightenment.

If the Dao Ancestor wants to answer this question honestly, then asking the Dao Ancestor is the best course of action.

Would the Dao Ancestor reveal his secret?
"You went to the underworld and met Yama, the King of Hell? What did they say?"

Upon hearing this, Yang Li immediately became excited, his eyes filled with admiration as he looked at her. "The treatment you received in the underworld this time was completely different from the last time."

I felt the power and pride of the late emperor when he was alive.

As soon as I arrived at the Gates of Hell, I reported my origins to the ghost guards at the city gate. Immediately, gongs and drums were sounded from within the city, and a procession of honor rushed out, sending me into the City of the Wrongfully Dead amidst the deafening din of gongs and drums.

Then the chief judge led dozens of ghost soldiers, who lined up at the city gate to welcome me.

Haha, ghosts and gods really do bully the weak and fear the strong.

Now that they have witnessed the Grand Tutor's imposing presence, they immediately showed the utmost respect.

They were worried I wouldn't be satisfied, so they wanted to send me gifts and ask me to say a few good words for them to the Grand Tutor!

"I'm asking how things went, not to hear you talk about how you showed off your power," said Grand Tutor Yu.

"It's obvious, isn't it? With the chief judge being so respectful, how could things not get done?"

Yang Li pulled a black jade booklet from his sleeve, presented it to Grand Tutor Yu with both hands, and said with a smile, "Grand Tutor, do you know that the Ten Kings of Hell have been replaced?"

They changed five times in total.

The new King Qin Guang is still our familiar face, Ximen Bao.

That guy was lucky; he'd only been a ghost messenger for a little over ten thousand years when the position of Yama, the King of Hell, became vacant, and he got it.

Grand Tutor Yu glanced through the roster and said, "Since they are acquaintances, why were they not given any preferential treatment?"
There is only a list of fallen heroes here; there is no list of vacant deities.

Yang Li sighed, "We've just had five Yama Kings replaced, and the judges have also been cleansed."

Even acquaintances wouldn't dare to openly bend the law for personal gain at this time!

Besides, the Grand Tutor knows Ximen Bao's personality perfectly well; he would never pull strings for us.

They can't leave either.

The positions of one or two deities can be discussed privately.

But the Grand Tutor demanded too many divine positions. Such a large-scale investiture of gods would inevitably cause a huge uproar and alarm the entire world.

However, Ximen Bao and several Yama Kings personally promised that if the Grand Tutor could appoint ghosts and gods in accordance with the rules of Heaven and the laws of the Underworld, they would fully cooperate and immediately acknowledge his identity.

Xiao Yu put down the roster, thought for a moment, and said, "I also have the position of the Dragon Lord of Huai River, which is worth more than a hundred medium-level positions."

Go to the Heavenly Court and ask which great deity can take on this job.

"This deal?" Yang Li was speechless. "What does the Grand Tutor take the Heavenly Court for?"

Xiao Yu said, "You are just a Daoist boy who has not yet become an immortal. How could you find a great immortal or god who would accept the position of the god of the Huai River?"

Sending you to the Heavenly Court is just a trial balloon, a way to send out the message and test the reaction of the great immortals and gods of the Heavenly Court.

If they truly have the ability and the willingness, they will naturally come to Xianyang to find me secretly.

Yang Li shook his head and said, "What kind of status do I have? How dare I go to the Heavenly Court to test the waters?"

He pointed to the jade book and said, "The Grand Tutor also saw it; their endings were all quite good."

Even without the imperial court's assistance, most of them could still be reincarnated as humans.

Xiao Yu frowned and glanced at him. "Chen Huan is going to be a barbarian in a foreign land in his next life."

An ordinary farmer, from a poor family, lost his father in his youth, his wife in middle age, and his son in old age; he experienced every kind of tragedy in life. Is that considered good?

Yang Li sighed, "There's nothing we can do about it. He killed too many people in his past life."

They killed thousands of Chen Sheng's people; Chen Sheng was destined by Heaven!
Killing in accordance with Heaven's will results in minor karma and negligible sin. Acting against Heaven, however, results in major karma and a mountain of sin.

Before he died, he killed eight more immortals.

Three of them were even Xuanmen True Immortals.

With such a profound karmic consequence, his next life will only be one of poverty and loneliness. The underworld has already considered that he served his country loyally, rather than committing murder without authorization, and has thus shown him leniency.

Xiao Yu said unhappily, "Are you even speaking human language? Why did he kill Chen Sheng's men, and even an immortal?"

"When you one day also serve the court loyally, will I also say—'There's nothing we can do about it, accept reality.'"

Yang Li's expression turned solemn, and he said, "If I were to encounter misfortune, I would be grateful for your assistance, Grand Tutor."

"Not only will you protect my soul from falling into the hell of Fengdu in this life, but I also hope that in my next life, the Grand Tutor can save me once more."

“Yes, I’ve figured it out. Grand Tutor is right. I’ll go and test the waters for you now.” He then added.

Xiaoyu rolled her eyes. "You're so realistic."

Yang Li sighed, “Who wouldn’t want the court to take care of the affairs of loyal ministers and generals like us after our deaths?”

I have come to terms with reality. The Qin Dynasty can't even take care of itself, so we shouldn't ask for more.

Now I understand the Grand Tutor's determination.

Being able to follow a leader as loyal and compassionate as the Grand Tutor brings only peace of mind and joy.

Grand Tutor Yu asked, "Do you know how to test the waters? Under normal circumstances, you can't even get into the South Heavenly Gate."

Yang Li said, "If it's just a matter of testing the waters, it's not difficult. I'll go find Master Guan and Master Grey Crane first."

The three of us contacted our respective Taoist sects together.

Then, have the Taoist leader communicate with the celestial masters and have them spread the message.

I don't need to go to Nantianmen and 'hawk my wares' myself."

Grand Tutor Yu shook his head and said, "You're wrong. You're going to hawk your wares along the streets of Nantianmen. You can take a route through the Zongxuan Cave of Mount Hua directly to Nantianmen, but don't go inside."

They would stand guard outside the South Heavenly Gate, and whenever a deity came out or approached, they would sneak up on him and whisper to ask if he needed a position as a great deity.

Then, with a serious expression, he assured him that Grand Tutor Yu would not only offer him a divine position, but also guarantee that he would definitely ascend to that position.

Yes, I will bestow upon him a title of honor through human virtue and destiny.

The prerequisites are that he has no moral failings, no sins on his conscience, at least 500 points of Heavenly Merit, and the ability to control clouds and rain.

"Isn't being sneaky and timid too indecent?" Yang Li couldn't stand it even just imagining the scene in his mind.

"Never mind whether it's proper or not, just do as I say," Grand Tutor Yu said calmly.

Yang Li was willing to have his teachers pass on the message, but he couldn't accept that he was sneaking around at Nantianmen, which he considered very improper.

"Grand Tutor, didn't you just confer titles upon the River God and the Dragon Lord of the Ji River?"
These two water palaces are so large; they could house quite a few yakshas and river patrollers.

Xiaoyu shook her head and said, "The two dragons can't even protect themselves right now, so let's not make things difficult for them."

If another incident like the alligator dragon's assassination attempt on Zhao Juhua were to occur, the two little dragons would be preoccupied with saving their own lives and would naturally have no time to care about others.

Secondly, just like the newly appointed King Qin Guang, Ximen Bao, who dared not openly abuse his power for personal gain, the two newly appointed Dragon Kings should not openly violate the laws of Heaven and give preferential treatment to loyal officials of the Great Qin.

Xiaoyu needs a position as a celestial deity recognized by the Heavenly Court and a position as a ghost or god recognized by the Underworld. A position obtained through back channels in secret could be exposed at any time, leading not only to dismissal but also severe punishment.

Doesn't this contradict her original intention of comforting the loyal and heroic souls of the Qin Dynasty?

Yang Li received the order from Grand Tutor Yu and, without delay, immediately set off for Zongxuan Cave Heaven.

Upon arriving at Chaoyang Peak of Mount Hua, before even passing through the "Heavenly Gate" and entering the grotto, he saw a huge stone tablet erected on the mountaintop. It was so large and wide that it could no longer be considered a stone tablet; it should be a wall.

A long row of colorful portraits was pasted on the wall, all of them depicting the wanted criminals in the case of the sworn-out Taoist priest.

At that moment, two young boys in blue robes were tearing up the wanted poster while cursing and swearing.

"How audacious you scoundrels! This is a court proclamation personally issued by Grand Tutor Yu, and you dare to tear it up?"

"Do you even know the Qin laws? Tearing up a wanted poster without authorization is punishable by death!" shouted the young Taoist priest Yang Li.

The two boys in blue robes were startled, but when they turned around and saw it was him, they breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"Greetings, Celestial Master Yangli! Celestial Master, we are the attendants of Cui Siguan, the Director of the 'Capital Secretariat' of the Sanyuan Jizhen Palace."

My name is Kyokushin, and his name is Kyokushin. We didn't act on our own this time.

"It was Steward Cui who ordered us to clear away the 'unrelated debris' outside the Celestial Palace," a child explained.

The young boy bowed repeatedly, pleading in alarm, "Celestial Master, please don't take us to the yamen for punishment, considering we are all from the same lineage of the Xuanmen."

The Ancestral Dragon Qi Pill is truly terrifying; we are but small, weak Daoist novices, and cannot withstand it!

Yang Li pointed to the notice on the wall and asked, "When was it posted here?"

The young boy said, "It seems like it's been four or five days. After the public trial in Xianyang ended, a Celestial Master came here to post notices."

"If you were going to tear it apart, why wait until today?" Yang Li asked again.

"We obeyed the master's orders, but we don't know why," said Jizhen.

Yang Li said coldly, "The imperial proclamation bears the seal of the Grand Tutor. Anyone who dares to tamper with it will be unforgivable."

Restore everything to its original state immediately, or Grand Tutor Yu will surely hold you accountable.

Although you are small and weak, you are more than capable of fighting Chen Sheng on the front lines and exchanging blows with several powerful warriors.

The two children's chubby faces turned deathly pale, and their legs trembled.

Yang Li flicked his wide sleeves, leaped into the cave passage.

After a dizzying spin, they arrived in a vast, boundless world where there was no earth, only celestial clouds and floating islands.

After a short while, he arrived at the Sanyuan Jizhen Palace and was surprised to see two Daoist boys tearing down notices.

Well, a stone wall also stands at the main entrance of the Sanyuan Jizhen Palace.

There were too many notices on the wall, and Taoist magic was used to imprint them onto the stone wall, making it very troublesome to clean them up.

At this point, more than half of the hundred or so notices have been torn down.

"You dare to tear down Grand Tutor Yu's proclamation? Don't you have a death wish!" Yang Li shouted.

"Grand Master Yu?" The young Taoist and the immortal beside him turned around quickly, looking around in surprise.

"Grand Tutor Yu has arrived?" a celestial being exclaimed from afar.

"What? Grand Tutor Yu has come to the Three Primordial Extreme Truth Palace?"

The more people spread the rumor, the more outrageous it became, and many immortals have already fled in panic.

The once bustling Sanyuan Jizhen Palace Square was suddenly mostly empty.

"Yang Li, where is Grand Tutor Yu? Are you here on orders to inspect the notice?"

Cui, the clerk of the Ministry of Personnel, happened to be standing next to the stone wall.

He was also a long-time neighbor and knew Yang Li.

"Immortal Cui, this humble Taoist greets you!" Yang Li bowed first.

The Chief Secretary was specifically responsible for registering the "Heavenly Register" for immortals, and the Director was the chief official of this department.

Therefore, Cui Siguan is the legendary "Immortal".

Yang Li wasn't even an immortal, so of course he had to pay his respects when he met a celestial being.

Officer Cui then asked, "Did Grand Tutor Yu send you here?"

Yang Li scrutinized him closely. Cui Siguan was somewhat nervous, his lips were tightly pursed, his eyes flickered, and he unconsciously swallowed.

Having made up his mind, he asked, "Immortal, is it convenient to talk here?"

Official Cui immediately said, "Let's go to the 'Flying Immortal Palace' to discuss this in detail."

Yang Li nodded and followed him into the Flying Immortal Palace upstairs.

“Immortal, I am a junior, and there are some things that I should not say to you.”

However, I have been neighbors with the Immortal for hundreds of years, and we have some connection. Therefore, I humbly offer this suggestion: may I ask for your permission?

“We’ve been close friends for years, so just say what you need to say.” There was already a hint of panic in Cui Siguan’s eyes.

If he were an ordinary person, he would be wiping the sweat from his brow by now.

Yang Li's expression became even calmer, and he said, "The Five Sacred Mountains and the Four Great Rivers are often mentioned together."

Now that all four rivers have fallen, don't you know? Is it hard to guess who the Grand Tutor will target next?

It's really embarrassing to post a notice at the front gate.

Even the Heavenly Court tacitly approved of the Grand Tutor's 'public trial in Xianyang,' so you, a mere immortal, cannot withstand the Grand Tutor's wrath!"

"Fellow Daoist, please be sure to report the truth to the Grand Tutor. This is not my intention, really!" Cui Siguan said anxiously. "Although I am an official, I am not the master of the Three Primal Extreme True Palace, and I would never dare to act without authorization."

Yang Li's expression changed slightly. "Is this the Golden Heavenly King's intention? Does the Five Sacred Mountains Emperor still intend to stand up to the Grand Tutor even now?"

(End of this chapter)