People in Conferred Gods: Rising from humble beginnings, I am the God of Wealth

heaven.

Seeing that the population of the Netherworld was growing day by day, Yang Xuan left the Netherworld and came to the Heavenly Court's Lingxiao Palace, where he met Haotian and the Queen Mother.

Over the years, he sought out the Three Pure Ones to open the four heavens of the celestial realm, making it more complete.

Head to the underworld, set up the Yin-Yang Reversal Dragon Gate Formation, solve the population problem of the Netherworld, and give the Netherworld a chance to prosper.

These events caused a huge uproar in the prehistoric world, significantly elevating the status of both the Heavenly Court and the Underworld.

Now, it's time for him to prepare for his own future.

Yang Xuan entered the Lingxiao Palace, bowed to Haotian and the Queen Mother above, and said with a smile:

"Congratulations, Your Majesty and Your Majesty, on severing your 'Imprisoned Corpse' and advancing your cultivation to become Quasi-Saints of the Three Corpses!"

"Without you, fellow Daoist, where would I be today?" Haotian shook his head, his expression serious and sincere.

"The Queen Mother and I were able to sever our mortal bodies thanks to you, fellow Daoist. To be honest, our paths to immortality lie with the Heavenly Court."
"Without you, fellow Daoist, there would be no Heavenly Court as it is today, and neither would we be where we are today. We will never forget your great kindness."

"Haotian is right," the Queen Mother nodded and echoed.
"We owe our current success to your contributions, fellow Daoist. If you ever need anything in the future, just say the word, and we will do our utmost to help you!"

"Your Majesty and Her Majesty are too kind," Yang Xuan said politely, but he did not refuse this good opportunity that was offered to him.

Moreover, this is what he deserves. Haotian and the Queen Mother are where they are today because of him.

At the very beginning, he did not expect that it would be of such great help to Haotian and the Queen Mother.

Yang Xuan initially chose to join the Heavenly Court because he wanted to take advantage of the Heavenly Court's early stage of development, join as soon as possible, and secure a place in the Heavenly Court in the future, becoming a key employee.

More importantly, becoming a formal employee of the Heavenly Court meant that as long as he stayed in the Heavenly Court, he could avoid the Investiture of the Gods calamity, which was Yang Xuan's original goal.

After becoming a full-fledged employee, Yang Xuan thought that he should do his best to enhance the influence of the Heavenly Court and attract more living beings to join the Heavenly Court and become righteous gods.

Gradually, Yang Xuan rose higher and higher in rank, eventually becoming a first-rank emperor in the Heavenly Court.

From the God of Wealth to the First-Rank Emperor, the changes were so dramatic that Yang Xuan now reflects on the vicissitudes of fate.

Yang Xuan didn't dwell on that topic; he changed the subject and revealed the purpose of his trip.

"Your Majesty and Your Majesty, the Heavenly Court has now opened four more heavens, and four more sages have entered the Heavenly Court to rule. Your Majesty and Your Majesty have also severed my corpse. We should celebrate this occasion."
"This humble deity proposes to hold a grand Peach Banquet, to invite all living beings of the primordial world to attend, and to spread the glory of our Heavenly Court!"

Peach Festival?

Haotian and the Queen Mother were slightly taken aback. They exchanged a glance, both seeing confusion in each other's eyes.

Based on their understanding of Yang Xuan, if it were just a minor matter, there would be no need for the main body to come; any righteous god could simply be sent to notify him and go through the proper procedures.

Even if Yang Xuan wanted to pick some Innate Ren Water Peaches and Five Needle Pine Cones to entertain the powerful beings of the prehistoric world, they would not be able to refuse.

After all, they had originally planned to give Yang Xuan the Innate Ren Water Peach Tree and the Five-Needle Pine as a way of repaying him.

If Yang Xuan had simply sent someone to give a notification, they would have found it reasonable and wouldn't have been surprised.

Yang Xuan made a special trip just for such a trivial matter, which made them feel uneasy.

But after thinking about it, they didn't ask any more questions. Whatever Yang Xuan wanted to do, it couldn't possibly harm the interests of the Heavenly Court, nor would it be detrimental to the two of them.

Since that's the case, there's nothing more to ask.

Haotian and the Queen Mother didn't ask any further questions. They exchanged a glance and then smiled, saying:

“What you say is true, fellow Daoist. This matter will be left to your full responsibility. You may pick any spiritual fruits in the Peach Garden, including the Primordial Ren Water Pan Tree and the Five-Needle Pine.”

"Thank you, Your Majesty. I shall take my leave now."

Yang Xuan bowed and then stepped back.

Since Haotian and the Queen Mother didn't ask any further questions, there was no need for him to say it.

What he's about to do is of great importance; it's not as simple as undermining Buddhism. The fewer people who know about it, the better.

However, there is another important prerequisite for accomplishing this, which is the twenty-four Sea-Stabilizing Pearls!

After leaving the Lingxiao Palace, Yang Xuan first returned to the Siming Temple and summoned Shen Gongbao and Jiang Ziya, instructing them to prepare for the Peach Banquet and invite powerful beings from the prehistoric world to attend.

In the original timeline, the Heavenly Court would hold a Peach Banquet every so often to enhance its influence and take the opportunity to invite powerful beings to heaven.

However, since Yang Xuan ascended to heaven, there has never been a Peach Banquet, because it is unnecessary.

Which of Yang Xuan's plans for the Heavenly Court was less effective than holding the Peach Banquet?
In the early days, the Heavenly Court lacked grassroots staff. Instead of putting spiritual objects on this, it would be better to use them to improve the treatment of immortals and gods, and attract more living beings to Heaven.

Later, when the Heavenly Court lacked mid-level administrators, its reputation had already spread.

At that time, it wasn't the Heavenly Court begging the powerful beings of the primordial world to ascend to heaven; rather, the powerful beings of the primordial world who wanted to ascend to heaven had to undergo the Heavenly Court's assessment, and there was no need to hold the Peach Banquet!
As a result, the Heavenly Court has never held a Peach Banquet to this day.

If the Peach Banquet were held again today, its nature would be different.

Although both aim to enhance influence, they are not intended to invite powerful beings to heaven, but simply to demonstrate the majesty of the Heavenly Court, nothing more!

This was also Yang Xuan's fundamental requirement: the Heavenly Court, as the power standing at the pinnacle of the primordial world, did not need to curry favor with any other power, but rather...

Every power must show respect to the Heavenly Court!
Shen Gongbao and Jiang Ziya had been in charge of all the affairs of the Heavenly Court for many years. Even though the Heavenly Court had never held a Peach Banquet and had no relevant experience, they were capable enough to handle the matter well.

As the saying goes, "If you employ someone, don't doubt them; if you doubt someone, don't employ them." After Yang Xuan entrusted Shen Gongbao and Jiang Ziya with the Peach Banquet, he put them in full charge of the matter and told them to come and ask him if they had any questions.

Yang Xuan himself left the Temple of Fate and found Zhao Gongming in the Heavenly Court. After using the Heavenly Mystery Pearl to shield the surrounding heavenly secrets and ensure that no one was spying on him, he went straight to the point and asked:
"Brother, what is your opinion on Buddhism?"

"Buddhism?" Zhao Gongming was slightly taken aback. He hadn't expected Yang Xuan to ask such a strange question the moment they met today, after so many years.

As for the views of Buddhism, what more can be said? He can't speak for the other disciples of the Xuanmen (Taoist school), but the disciples of the Chan and Jie sects are unlikely to have a good opinion of Buddhism. Most of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in Buddhism were once disciples of the Chan and Jie sects; even the Buddha Tathagata was once a senior inner disciple of the Jie sect.

Moreover, since its inception, Buddhism has been stealing the fortune of Taoism.

If Confucius had not founded Confucianism, and if Yang Xuan had not allowed Taoism to flourish, hindering the spread of Buddhism and delaying its rise, the situation of Taoism would have been very bad.

If you were to ask him about his views on Buddhism, what else is there to say? If he could, he would want to beat them all on sight!
This was common knowledge, and Zhao Gongming didn't know why Yang Xuan asked this, but he still answered truthfully:
"I don't have a good opinion of Buddhism. Whenever I see Buddhism suffer a setback, my resolve to follow the path becomes a little smoother."

"If I have a way to make Buddhism suffer a setback, forcing them to accept it reluctantly and even say thank you, would you be interested in participating?"

Yang Xuan revealed a meaningful smile. If this matter were accomplished, Buddhism could indeed be more complete, and an important link would be added to Buddhism. They should indeed say thank you.

"Oh? Such a good thing?!" Zhao Gongming raised an eyebrow, nudged Yang Xuan's arm with his elbow, and asked with great interest:
"Of course I'm interested in such a good thing. Little brother, stop keeping me in suspense and tell me what you want me to do?"

"To avoid being overheard, I can't tell you the specifics yet, brother." Yang Xuan pointed to the sky and continued:
"If you trust me, elder brother, you may lend me the Sea-Stabilizing Pearl for a period of time. If this matter is accomplished, it will be a great achievement, and perhaps merit will be bestowed upon me."

“What’s there to doubt?” Zhao Gongming didn’t think twice before taking out twenty-four Sea-Stabilizing Pearls from his sleeve and handing them to Yang Xuan.

"Back during the Investiture of the Gods, if it weren't for my brother's help, I would definitely have been listed on the list of those divine beings, and those twenty-four Sea-Stabilizing Pearls would have fallen into the hands of others."

"Don't say I'm just borrowing it; even if I wanted the Sea-Stabilizing Pearl, it would be my due!"

"Brother, you flatter me." Yang Xuan smiled slightly. "Brother is a lucky man. Even without my help, you would only be more seriously injured, not necessarily die."

Yang Xuan made a polite remark and then put the twenty-four Sea-Stabilizing Pearls into his sleeve.

In fact, Zhao Gongming was right. Without Yang Xuan's help, he would have had to go to the Investiture of the Gods, and the twenty-four Sea-Stabilizing Pearls might have fallen into the hands of Randeng.

With this cause and effect in mind, even if Yang Xuan wanted the Sea-Stabilizing Pearl, Zhao Gongming wouldn't hesitate at all.

Even though the Sea-Stabilizing Pearl is Zhao Gongming's most powerful spiritual treasure, and half of his abilities are contained in it, this is still true.

But Yang Xuan had no need to do that.

After witnessing the self-repair of the ancient tree world and the creation of the world by the Three Pure Ones and Nuwa, he gained a deeper understanding of the Great Dao of Space and had more ideas about how to create the world.

Even without the Sea-Stabilizing Pearl, he was confident that he could create the Twenty-Four Heavens on Mount Sumeru using only the Ruler of Rules.

However, he always sought stability in his actions. If he had the assistance of the twenty-four Sea-Stabilizing Pearls, the success rate and scale of the creation of the world would be much greater.

If relying solely on the rules and his own mastery of the Great Dao of Space, Yang Xuan would most likely only be able to create a Middle Thousand World.

However, if twenty-four Sea-Stabilizing Pearls were added, it wouldn't be impossible to create a vast world.

Moreover, with his current level of skill, the Sea-Stabilizing Pearl only plays an auxiliary role; it is not a consumable and will not damage this set of innate spiritual treasures.

Otherwise, damaging this set of innate spiritual treasures in order to open up the Twenty-Four Heavens would be a huge loss for Zhao Gongming.

However, as long as the twenty-four Sea-Stabilizing Pearls remain undamaged, even if their power is temporarily diminished, it will be a great opportunity for Zhao Gongming. Perhaps it will give him the chance to sever his corpse, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone!
Yang Xuan gave Zhao Gongming a few more instructions, telling him to keep it a secret and not to tell a third person what had been said that day. Then he took his leave and waited for the right opportunity.

This matter has a very serious impact. If he just runs straight to the West, he is not really afraid of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in Buddhism, but he can't stop them from sending people. He can't handle the two Western Saints.

At the same time, he also needs to spend some time familiarizing himself with the Sea-Stabilizing Pearl to further improve his grasp of opening the heavens.

……

Three thousand years later, in all the great and powerful beings in the primordial world, all the prominent figures received invitations from the celestial gods and immortals, inviting them to a banquet in the celestial court thirty thousand years from now. The Buddhist sect was also among those invited.

Thanks to Yang Xuan's deliberate arrangement, most of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in Buddhism received invitations.

But no one thought there was anything wrong with it. Buddhism is a sect of saints, a top-tier power in the primordial world. It's only natural that it receives more invitations.

Moreover, as sects of saints, both the Jie Sect and the Chan Sect received numerous invitations.

The Heavenly Court holds the Peach Banquet to demonstrate its prestige; it would be beneath its dignity if personal emotions were involved.

Therefore, even within the Buddhist community, no one felt that the number of invitations was abnormal; on the contrary, they were quite satisfied.

If the Chan Sect and Jie Sect received significantly more invitations than the Buddhist sect, the Heavenly Court's reputation would certainly be damaged, but how much better would the Buddhist sect's reputation be?

As for whether or not to go, there's not much to say. The Heavenly Court has already sent an invitation. If they don't go, wouldn't that seem very impolite?

If the Heavenly Court were to spread malicious propaganda, the beings of the prehistoric world might think that Buddhism was afraid of the Heavenly Court and therefore dared not participate in the Heavenly Peach Banquet.

The Peach Banquet is held in the celestial abode, where the fragrance of osmanthus blossoms fills the sacred realm.

Fragrant flowers vie for attention, and fresh divine fruits compete in splendor.

Many powerful beings who received the invitations prepared their gifts immediately, left their caves, and set off from all corners of the world to the Heavenly Court, some riding clouds and mist, others riding steeds.

After the primordial world evolved into the Three Realms, its scale became even larger, and the distance between the human realm and the celestial realm became even more distant.

Don't be fooled by Yang Xuan's ability to travel from the human realm to the celestial realm with a mere thought; it's because he possesses the cultivation of a quasi-saint and can also mobilize the authority of the Sun Star.

If it were any other Quasi-Saint, it would take them quite a while to fly from the Human Realm to the Celestial Realm, let alone those below Quasi-Saint level.

The 30,000 years given by the Heavenly Court is just enough time for most living beings to travel. If they delay their departure for too long, they will probably be late or even miss this grand event.

As time went by, more and more colorful beams of light flew from all over the primordial world toward the Heavenly Court.

Thousands of years before the Peach Banquet officially began, a golden sun rose over Mount Sumeru, its dazzling light shining westward.

The Buddha, accompanied by a group of Buddhist disciples, traveled billions of miles in an instant towards the Heavenly Court, arriving just in time to participate in the Peach Banquet.

With the arrival of the Buddhist gate, the Peach Banquet officially began, and the atmosphere was lively and extraordinary!

At that moment, inside the Temple of Fate, Yang Xuan's true form slowly opened his eyes, put away the Sea-Stabilizing Pearl that had been hovering around his body, and took a step forward, instantly arriving outside Mount Sumeru. (End of Chapter)