The myth begins with the Lotus Lantern

Chapter 271 One Year

"There will inevitably be criticism regarding today's events. Remember to appease them later and prevent the situation from escalating further," the Jade Emperor added.

"I understand." Mother Wang nodded, her face showing concern again. "Your health... I feel like it's... Didn't you say last time that you were able to suppress it for the time being?"

"It's alright," the Jade Emperor said. "The reason I went to find Sister Nuwa this time was to resolve this hidden danger!"

"Hasn't this incarnation already fooled Ziwei? Why do we have to..." The Queen Mother hesitated for a moment, then finally couldn't help but finish her sentence.

“What kind of person is Ziwei? We’ve been fighting for him for so many years, don’t you understand him? How can you still have such illusions? Perhaps he has already realized what’s going on and is plotting something. We can’t have even the slightest bit of wishful thinking about him!” the Jade Emperor said.

"But he didn't react at all at the last grand court assembly?" the Queen Mother asked.

“The calmer the situation, the more turbulent it may be,” the Jade Emperor said. “The next grand court assembly is still a long way off, but the Peach Banquet is only a few years away. If he wants to make trouble, he will definitely do so before all the immortals. My position was decided by the Grand Master back then. Although I have some legal basis in terms of birth, times have changed, and that little bit of legal basis is no longer enough to support me. Now, he can only succeed to the throne by overthrowing me in a fair and square manner!”

"If I'm not mistaken, he will definitely make a move at the Peach Banquet!" the Jade Emperor said.

"But..." The Queen Mother wanted to say something more.

As the sweet spring water drips and gathers in the pool, the green lotus leaves sway gently.

On the high platform by the pond, the emperor and empress had their own secret conversation.

……

Time flies like an arrow, and a year has passed in the blink of an eye.

Tianpeng Temple.

Tianpeng has come eleven times already.

"Before the Supreme Purple Cloud Emperor, the Jade Morning Lord of the Great Dao. In seclusion, he composed seven-character verses from the stamen pearl, which scatter and transform into the five forms and myriad spirits. This is the Inner Chapter of the Yellow Court, where the heart of the zither dances three times to the fetal immortal. The nine qi shine brightly from the heavens, and the divine canopy boy gives rise to purple smoke. This is the Jade Book, which can be studied in detail. Reciting it ten thousand times will ascend you to the three heavens. A thousand calamities will be eliminated and a hundred diseases will be cured. You will not fear the ferocity of tigers and wolves, and you will also be able to prolong old age forever..."

A passage of scripture flashed through my mind, slowly and deliberately.

Ding Lin opened his eyes. It was another period of cultivation and enlightenment. He looked up at the sky through the small window of the duty room. The sun was already setting. Today was the fifteenth. He got up. Tianpeng should be back by sunset. He should prepare in advance. It was not a good day to cultivate.

Xin Jia had been waiting for a long time outside the duty room.

"How is it?" Ding Lin asked. His body flashed with spiritual light as golden armor pieces appeared on him. Then, with a "clattering" sound of the armor plates colliding, he took the lead and Xin Jia quickly followed.

"I have made all the arrangements. The brothers are in high spirits and will not let the general lose face in front of the marshal," Xin Jia replied.

Ding Lin nodded. Over the course of a year, he had been fooling Tianpeng. The heavenly soldiers below gradually realized that as long as they performed well on the full moon of the fifteenth day of the lunar month, Ding Lin would not interfere with them. As a result, they gradually became bolder. Of course, they did not neglect their posts, but in their daily lives, laziness and slackness became the norm. It was as if a tacit understanding had been formed among them.

Sensing a rapidly approaching aura, extremely concealed.

It's not about hiding.

Rather, if Ding Lin's dragon body hadn't advanced a step, the level of this aura wouldn't be something he should be able to sense at his current level.

Ding Lin straightened his back immediately, just like before.

Xin Jia followed behind Ding Lin. After a year, he had become very familiar with Ding Lin's movements and immediately knew that Tian Peng had arrived. As for the soldiers, they had naturally become accustomed to it and had been adjusted to their condition by Xin Jia from noon.

The restrictions above the temple flashed, and Tianpeng's figure landed directly in the courtyard. Except for the first time, he never stopped again. Who would stop for the security guard at the entrance of their own community? Most of the time, they would just ignore him. That's the norm.

That's just right.

Ding Lin was also spared trouble. In the darkness, the clanging of armor rang rhythmically. Each night, the heavenly soldiers needed to change shifts once, while Ding Lin needed to patrol around the temple nine times. Whenever he reached the west gate, he would speed up or turn back. On average, he had to check the other six gates more than ten times each night.

The two gates on the west side were only allowed twice, and even these two times were deliberately planned to avoid arousing Tianpeng's suspicion.

After all, no leader would not be wary of a subordinate who knows their most important secrets.

The moonlight was faint. The weather was not very good tonight. Although the moon peeked out, its radiance was dim and was often obscured by clouds, making it look delicate and fragile, like a shy young woman.

"Wow!"

Ding Lin stopped at the west gate, his gaze falling on the heavenly soldiers on duty. Inevitably, his eyes also passed through the gate and fell on Tianpeng in the courtyard.

Tianpeng remained the same as always: a stone table, a stone bench, a pot of clear wine, a wine cup, and himself, drinking alone under the moon.

Ding Lin glanced at it only once before looking away and preparing to leave.

at this time--

Suddenly, a strong wind arose, and the starlight swayed wildly.

Immediately afterwards, across the Milky Way, a huge cloud drifted over and blocked out the moonlight.

Ding Lin sensed something was amiss. He looked up and, sure enough, beyond the stars, dark clouds were pressing down on the horizon, and a downpour might be imminent.

There probably won't be a moon tonight.

Tianpeng put down his wine cup, a look of regret in his eyes.

"Deputy General Jin, come here!" Tianpeng suddenly called out from the courtyard.

"Here!"

Ding Lin had just turned around, his back to Tian Peng, and was about to leave when he heard this. He paused in his steps, his body stiffening beneath his golden armor. Reluctantly, he still had to respond.

“Crash, crash!”

As he walked, the armor clanged with each step. Ding Lin entered the courtyard and stopped in front of the stone table under the canopy.

"Come have a drink with me."

Tianpeng flicked his sleeve and took out another cup, filling it with wine for Ding Lin, his expression seemingly calm and composed.

But Ding Lin knew Tianpeng's secret, and even so, he still managed to catch a trace of it on his face.

A deep melancholy lingered in the wrinkles at the corners of Tianpeng's eyes; love remained unspoken, desire unfulfilled.

Unrequited love is always a lonely affair.

"Thank you for the wine, Marshal!" Ding Lin looked flattered, like a subordinate whose work had been recognized by his superior. He took the wine glass with both hands, straightened his posture, brought the glass to his lips, and drank it all in one gulp.

The wine was immediately broken down into spiritual energy upon entering the throat, and then refined in an instant. It was indeed a fine elixir, but after becoming an immortal, why was the effect of this spiritual substance so much worse?

Before becoming an immortal, a cup of this immortal wine could increase one's cultivation by several years, but just now it only lasted for a dozen days, truly a drop in the ocean.

Ding Lin was somewhat disappointed, but he also knew that as his cultivation level improved, these things would gradually become inevitable, and the spiritual items that would be useful to him would only become fewer and fewer in the future.

(End of this chapter)