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

Chapter 1487 Finding a Wife Again
"My dear minister, do not be agitated, do not panic, and do not be afraid."

The Jade Emperor noticed the unease in his trusted minister and quickly offered words of comfort.

Upon hearing His words, Venus became even more anxious. "Your Majesty, what is it?"

The Jade Emperor said tactfully, "As you know, Yu Fengxian made a great vow. This great vow was praised and accepted by Heaven, and became an undeniable rule of the Great Dao."

Demons and evil spirits may disregard the rules of Heaven, but we, the true cultivators of the Xuanmen, especially the immortals of the Heavenly Court, since we enjoy blessings far exceeding those of mortals and rogue cultivators, naturally must also bear more responsibilities under the Heavenly Dao.

Therefore, we immortals cannot and should not defy the will of Heaven.

Alas, this is not only fate, but also a curse, a calamity.

The calamity was unavoidable; we could only endure it!

If Taibai Xingjun were just an ordinary old man, he would definitely be crying from fright right now.

Before he could even cry, his heart sank to the bottom. "Your Majesty, could it be that I have truly fallen under Yu Fengxian's curse of fate and am trapped in a karmic entanglement?"

The Jade Emperor nodded slightly, pointing at Immortal Fu Yuan and saying, "Immortal Yu Feng probably saw you two plotting against her together, so she casually tied the red thread of fate to your marriage festival. Now that your marriage is destined, it cannot be—"

"No~~~" Taibai Xingjun seemed to use the power of his life force to let out a mournful cry that shook the Lingxu Palace, "Yu Fengxian, you are so cruel, you can't do this to me."

Fortunately, the Jade Emperor's mansion was protected by celestial arrays and restrictions, providing excellent soundproofing. Otherwise, if the gods outside heard it, they would think the Jade Emperor was hiding at home slaughtering a pig for the New Year!
The Jade Emperor quickly reassured him, "My dear minister, don't panic. This matter is not as bad as you imagine."

You and Immortal Fu Yuan are old friends of thousands of years. May you become inseparable confidants, like Bo Ya and Zi Qi, or Chen Yu and Zhang Er – that would be a great joy in life!

If Bo Ya and Zi Qi were still alive, they would definitely spit on him.

Chen Yu and Zhang Er were in their prime; if they had actually heard the Jade Emperor's analogy, they would definitely have cursed it.

Taibai Xingjun's old eyes reddened, and he almost burst into tears. "Your Majesty, I should not suffer this humiliation, I should not receive this retribution. This tribulation of love did not belong to me at all!"

The Jade Emperor's slight guilt was immediately overshadowed by anger: What do you mean by this? Should I suffer this humiliation? Should I be paired with that old dog Fu Yuan?
Yes, I did give you a hint, but you messed up the job!

You messed up your job, exposed me, and made Yu Fengxian target me. I didn't punish you, so consider your love tribulation as punishment. What's there to be upset about?
"Now that things have come to this, there's no point in shouting in despair," said Fu Yuanxian, suppressing his shame and anger, through gritted teeth.

The Queen Mother suggested again, "The Star Lord Taibai is having a hard time accepting reality right now. Why don't you go back and calm down for a few days and discuss it properly?"

If there is any room for maneuver, the Jade Emperor and I will certainly open the door to convenience for you.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Taibai Xingjun truly believed there was room for maneuver and that the Queen Mother and the Jade Emperor were willing to protect him, so much of the grief and indignation on his face immediately dissipated.

Fu Yuanxianweng, however, understood that the Queen Mother harbored ill intentions.

"No need to calm down, there's no need to discuss it."

He quickly recounted how Yu Fengxian was still cultivating demonic arts, how her demonic arts level was rapidly rising, and how the tribulation connecting them to their marriage festival was constantly strengthening.

"The preordained marriage has been activated. Li Changgeng, please ask the Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother to be our witnesses. Let's hurry and leave!"

"Where are you going? I'm not going, Your Majesty, I have something to say." Taibai Xingjun was both anxious and afraid.

The Jade Emperor sighed, stood up, and said, "Come with me."

He led Venus to the study and said directly, "I understand that you are wronged, but what's done is done, and there's nothing I can do about it!"

Back then, my sister and daughter were harmed one after another by Immortal Fu Yuan. Did I not want to stop it?
Your situation and that of Immortal Fu Yuan are even more serious than that of Long Ji and the Weaver Girl back then.

Their love tribulations were merely preordained fate.

Because it is related to the Mandate of Heaven and the evolution of the Heavenly Order of the Three Realms, it cannot be violated.

You've entered a period of calamity.

The tribulation of marriage is both a punishment recognized by Heaven and a curse from the demons; it is the most difficult tribulation to resolve in marriage.

If it's a curse, I can still discuss it with Yu Fengxian. At worst, I can apologize to her and ask for her forgiveness.

But once the demonic calamity began, even Yu Fengxian couldn't take it back.

She was able to make such a grand vow because Heaven believed that the Pangu world needed to establish new rules to repair a certain loophole in the Heavenly Dao.

She was the one who wanted to harm you, but it was Heaven itself that brought you harm.

Taibai Jinxing's eyes welled up with tears, filled with both sorrow and indignation. "But I am truly wronged! Heaven is unjust, unjust!"

—What's unfair about it? You've done things for me, so I'll definitely reward you and favor you even more.

Since we expect to benefit, how can we not expect to pay the corresponding price if we fail?

It's a shame that someone your age doesn't understand such a simple principle.

The Jade Emperor was somewhat dissatisfied with Taibai Xingjun's lack of understanding.

However, He was deep and shrewd, and his expression and tone showed no sign of it. Instead, He comforted you more gently, saying, "Actually, the tribulation of love only binds your fate with that of Immortal Fu Yuan together. It doesn't mean that you have to be together day and night and share a bed."

The ceremony was completed, they were married, and their love tribulations began.

Yu Fengxian can't raise the stakes any further. How you all live is up to you.

You are not ordinary people after all.

If you overcome the tribulation of love as a fellow Daoist, you can return to the Heavenly Court and continue your previous life.

His cultivation level and celestial rank remained unchanged.

Taibai Xingjun was skeptical. "Love tribulations are the most dangerous. Can I really get through them so easily?"

The Jade Emperor said, "How did the love tribulation harm Longji? She was born into a noble family with great fortune and luck."

With the help of the Emperor and the Queen Mother to suppress the negative influences, she can be immune to all evil simply by relying on her good fortune.

Furthermore, she possesses extraordinary talent and is exceptionally ambitious—she was born with top-tier immortal bones, an immaculate immortal body, and a pure Dao heart. Having also found the direction of the Great Dao, she has a promising future in attaining the Great Luo realm.

At this point, He couldn't help but sigh with regret, "If she hadn't been murdered by Immortal Fu Yuan, she would surely be a Great Luo Immortal by now. With her help, I—"

"What I mean is that she shouldn't have been killed. She was lucky, had high spiritual cultivation, and was not tainted by karmic consequences, so she didn't commit the crime of killing."

The reason she perished in the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation in such a hasty manner was because her husband, Hong Jin, committed a murderous act.

Husband and wife share the same fate; my beloved Longji was tricked to death by Hong Jin.

If they wanted to harm Yu Fengxian, they would use the same method.

You and Immortal Fu Yuan are different; you are of similar rank and both have considerable fortune, so you won't hold each other back.

As soon as the words were spoken, the Jade Emperor sensed that the love triangle between Fu Yuan Xian Weng and Li Chang Geng would not end peacefully.

He immediately added, “At least for now, none of you have committed any murderous acts. But at this time, a great calamity is raging in the human world. If you go to the human world, you must keep your caves tightly closed, silently recite the Yellow Court Classic, and do not think of taking revenge on Yu Fengxian.”

As long as you don't willingly invite disaster, I guarantee your safety.

“Does Your Majesty absolutely have to go to the mortal realm? The mortal realm is filled with the aura of calamity. Once that aura enters the mind, I fear it will be difficult to control oneself,” Li Changgeng said.

The Jade Emperor sighed, “We must leave the Heavenly Court. The Heavenly Court is a place of utmost purity and spirituality, and its purest and most virtuous energy cannot tolerate even the slightest defilement.”

The impure and malevolent energy generated by the union of men and women will defile the purity of the Heavenly Court.

In the past, even if male or female immortals committed karmic tribulations related to love, they had to descend to the mortal realm to face those tribulations. They must absolutely not act recklessly in the Heavenly Court.

Li Changgeng blushed. "Your Majesty, how could I possibly associate with Fu Yuan—I can't even bring myself to say it, much less do it." The Jade Emperor said, "That's the rule, whether you do it or not. Besides, the Heavenly Court is undergoing reforms, as you know."

In the past, celestial maidens and guards in the heavenly court developed feelings for each other, and the Queen Mother turned a blind eye, allowing them to descend to the mortal realm on their own.

As long as no one reports or exposes it, I generally won't interfere.

The new Heavenly Rules now strictly regulate this kind of thing, and you and Fu Yuan are no longer allowed to do it.

Besides, the period of emotional tribulation is not short.

You've been working hard in Heaven, but the position of Venus, the Star God, can't remain vacant forever; it's likely it will change hands soon.

Going to the mortal realm not only allows time to flow faster, but also exposes one to the grievances of the world, making the trials of love end more quickly.

"Oh, what a pity! I just came up with a few good ideas and was about to test them out!"

Under the witness of the Queen Mother of the West and the Jade Emperor, and with the blessing of the Rabbit God, Li Changgeng and Fu Yuanxianweng formed a platonic bond, while Meng Shixiaoyu was forced to end the weaving of their predestined marriage.

After making this grand vow, she remained immersed in a very mysterious state, becoming extremely sensitive to the Dao of destiny and marriage.

Undoubtedly, this state of sensitivity is conducive to enlightenment.

Therefore, she always transformed into a celestial demon, maintaining harmony with the Great Dao of Rahu, and wholeheartedly digesting the blessings from Heaven.

Since she is constantly seeking enlightenment, her path to the demonic tribulation of marriage must be continuously improving.

After improving his cultivation level, it was only natural to upgrade the "marriage karmic connection" between Fu Yuan and Li Changgeng.

The marriage karmic line is divided into inner and outer lines: the inner line is the red thread of marriage, and the outer line is the "karmic cause and effect line of marriage".

Fu Yuan and Li Changgeng used their affections to abduct her, and there is a causal link between her and them.

Previously, cause and effect could only be perceived and calculated. Now that she has become the Demon Ancestor of Marriage, she can directly see the causal line related to marriage and love tribulations, and she can also extract this line from fate and weave it together with the red thread of marriage.

This can be considered the innate skill of the Marriage Demon Ancestor, similar to the Dream Erosion Curse for the Dream Erosion Demon Ancestor.

Initially, she could only find the karmic connection between herself and Fu Yuan. As she became more familiar with the marriage curse, she gradually discovered karmic threads belonging to other people within Fu Yuan's river of fate.

They were all people harmed by Fu Yuan Xian Weng's love tribulation, and their karmic connections with Fu Yuan Xian Weng were formed.

Normally, they are like tiny, invisible fungal filaments in a river. Now, Xiaoyu has drawn them out and woven them into a thread of predestined fate.

The more familiar she became with the spell of marriage, the more profound her understanding of the great path of marriage became. Not only did she find more causal lines, but the previous causal lines also became clearer and thicker.

In the end, she seemed to be able to sense the curses and resentments from the victims through the threads of cause and effect.

Then she tried to tan their resentment and curses into silk threads, weaving them together with the karmic threads between themselves and Fu Yuanxianweng, ultimately integrating them into the thread of karmic tribulation.

Thus, the karmic entanglement between lovers becomes stronger and more difficult to resolve.

It can be said that the hatred and resentment of those who were maliciously subjected to love tribulations by Fu Yuan Xian Weng, such as the Weaver Girl and Long Ji, transformed into Fu Yuan Xian Weng's own tribulation at this moment.

If Xiaoyu is given more time, she can try to activate the causal line, allowing its owner, such as Princess Longji, to sense this karmic entanglement line and directly project hatred towards Immortal Fuyuan, thus instantly amplifying Immortal Fuyuan's karmic tribulation.

As for Venus Li Changgeng, his situation is much better than that of Fu Yuanxianweng.

After all, he doesn't have many "emotional debt-type karmic lines" on his body.

After his love tribulation with Immortal Fu Yuan ended, he was freed and could return to the Heavenly Realm. However, Immortal Fu Yuan was about to begin the next stage of his love tribulation.

It's not that he has many emotional tribulations, but rather that each emotional tribulation is divided into many stages.

Even Xiaoyu doesn't know exactly when it will end.

The strength and duration of the karmic entanglement are determined partly by the karmic debts of the Immortal Fu Yuan himself (the karmic entanglement), and partly by the resentment and curses woven into the karmic entanglement.

If Longji, Zhinu, Zhang Sanmei, and others had dispelled their resentment towards him sooner, his love tribulations would have ended sooner. If they continued to harbor resentment, his love tribulations would have lasted much longer.

Even so, Immortal Fu Yuan should feel fortunate—fortunate to have a good teacher, and fortunate to have been obedient. If he had delayed for a few more years, Xiao Yu might have woven the karmic threads of the Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother into the "thread of tribulation."

In terms of marriage, the Queen Mother of the West, the Jade Emperor, and Immortal Fu Yuan also have a karmic connection! It's just that the connection isn't direct enough, so it hasn't been discovered by Old Demon Yu yet.

Having broken free from the state of being in harmony with the Great Dao of Rahu and the realm of the Heavenly Demons, they returned to the mortal world at the end of November.

The Lunar New Year is approaching again.

"This year has gone by so fast, it's over in the blink of an eye."

Looking at the snow-covered northern lands, Grand Tutor Yu was filled with emotion.

Looking down at the last red string of fate, her feelings became even more complicated.

With a "whoosh," she vanished from the snowfield in an instant, and a moment later found the Temple of the Matchmaker outside Shangjun City.

"Daoist Yuehe, come out and see me! So be it!"

The clay statues, which originally had some charm, now looked even more dull and lifeless, like a dilapidated temple that had been neglected for many years.

Grand Tutor Yu sneered, activated the marriage spell, and aimed it at the statue.

"Grand Tutor, spare me!"

A ball of golden light rolled down from the shrine and transformed into a gaunt old Taoist priest with a white beard and a green robe. "Grand Master, this humble Taoist has never offended you or plotted against you!"

He almost couldn't help but kneel down and wail.

He didn't kneel, but bowed repeatedly; he didn't wail, but his voice trembled and his face was mournful.

“You haven’t offended me, why would I harm you? Just like last time, I’ve asked you to come and help me today,” said Grand Tutor Yu.

The Old Man of the Moon breathed a sigh of relief, then said nervously, "Grand Tutor, you've created a karmic calamity in marriage. Our Marriage Bureau is currently discussing reforms, and we can no longer rely on back channels. Of course, for the sake of the Grand Tutor, I am willing to bear the karmic consequences, but please be mindful of the limits."

Grand Tutor Yu said, "Even you have this awareness, how can I, the dignified Demon Ancestor of Marriage, go against my own principles?"

She handed the red string to the matchmaker, who looked doubtful, and continued, "Although this red string can help my disciple find a wife, it will change the preordained marriage."

This goes against my principles.

The Demon Ancestor of Marriage protects the marriages of all beings in the Three Realms by punishing the gods who manipulate marriage.

I must set a good example!

The Old Man of the Moon's face twisted in disbelief, and he mentally raged: You're a proper old demon, yet you talk about protecting all living beings. Don't you feel ashamed?

Even if the Demon Ancestor of Marriage could indeed cause the God of Marriage to suffer calamity, he did not believe that her purpose was to protect the Three Realms.

Just as many demon ancestors transformed into celestial demons to help the heavens arrange demonic calamities and punish immortals tainted with sins, it does not mean that the original intentions of those old demons were good.

The Demon Ancestor could be used by the heavens only because the Demon Ancestor had value to be used.

Being used to protect order does not mean that the Demon Ancestor himself also protects order.

However, he only dared to complain in his heart, while respectfully saying aloud, "Grand Tutor is strict with himself and restrains himself to follow the rites. He is a sage of our time!"

"I wonder what the Grand Tutor wants from me this time?"

(End of this chapter)