Becoming an immortal and ancestor begins with the golden toad spitting out money.

At the invitation of the Bodhisattva Zilin, Su Ji arrived at Songsheng Island, the most important island in the South China Sea island chain.

The Holy Island is not in the sea, but a floating island in the air, with a status equivalent to the Heavenly Court in the Central Plains.

There are almost no mortals here, and even immortals and gods find it difficult to stay here for long. Most of the lands are territories that powerful beings have long ago divided up. Even the Purple Forest Bodhisattva only has a small temple that covers no more than thirty acres.

Logically speaking, since the Bodhisattva Zilin was a powerful figure under the Brahma Emperor, Su Ji should not have gotten too entangled with him, and should even have been more cautious.

In fact, even Brahma and his past incarnation Brahma had ideological conflicts, not to mention that the gods within Brahma also had factions.

The Bodhisattva Zilin did not follow Brahma's philosophy of salvation, but rather walked the world with the philosophy of influence and made more emphasis on communication.

Before the Bodhisattva Zilin, all living beings are equal, regardless of rank or status. Even an ant has its own destiny, let alone a Golden Toad God like Su Ji, who bears the karma of the Nine Heavens Prime Minister Soul Emperor.

Dressed in plain clothes, the Bodhisattva Zilin took the teapot brought by the boy and personally brewed tea for Su Ji.

"This realm is located on the edge of the Nine Heavens, and is not within the sight of the Heavenly Emperors. It is thanks to the existence of a being like you, Golden Toad God, who has taken the time to compile the Dao registers of all living beings that many cultivators from this realm may ascend to the Nine Heavens in the future. Not to mention that it will benefit all living beings in this realm, it will at least add another lineage to the Dao..."

Before Su Ji revealed his identity, the powerful beings and emperors of this realm blocked the news from the Nine Heavens and prohibited immortals and gods from leaving this realm. Their purpose was not to monopolize the world, but to prevent the immortals and gods from bringing disaster to this realm after they left.

After all, once the surrounding gods and demons learn about the situation in this world, they are very likely to launch an invasion in order to occupy it. Even if they can eventually defend this world, it will be a matter of great suffering and destruction.

As a result, even the gods, immortals, and lesser saints who possess the ability to leave this world can only remain here to cultivate diligently; some occupy a region, while others have long since grown old and died.

"As long as one meets the conditions of the Soul Spirit Emperor, one can ascend to the Nine Heavens via the ascension light I guide. So far, no one has brought up this matter. Could it be that Bodhisattva Zilin has some plans?"

From the time Su Ji's identity was "revealed" by the Moon Goddess of the Moon until now, only a few years have passed. For those beings who meet the conditions for ascension, it is far too short, not even enough time to make arrangements for what happens after their departure.

Just like the God Emperor Zhujiuyin, if he were to ascend and depart, the clan's foundation might be coveted by others. They would either need to set up a powerful formation to defend against invaders, or ask someone to help protect the clan...

Zilin Bodhisattva was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said, "I do have the idea of ​​ascending to heaven, but this world is going through a turbulent time. If I ascend and leave, not to mention the Buddhist foundation of the South China Sea Island Chain, even all the spirits of heaven and earth will lose a protective force."

Now that the Phoenix Clan's grotto has emerged, anyone with discerning eyes can see that a conflict between the dragon and the phoenix is ​​inevitable; it's only a matter of time.

Moreover, the Bodhisattva Zilin is the mainstay of their faction. Once he ascends to the heavens, the internal factions of the Brahma sect will inevitably become unbalanced, and the consequences will be unimaginable.

"I see..." Su Ji wasn't in a hurry. As time went by, he would surely be able to wait for the being who wanted to ascend.

Then, the Bodhisattva Zilin changed the subject and talked about Su Ji and the South China Sea Dragon Clan.

"Just now, the Divine Lord chased the South Sea Dragon Lord to the edge of the South Sea island chain. His power was no less than that of an ordinary great power, which is truly admirable. However, harmony is the most important thing in everything. If the conflict between the Divine Lord and the South Sea Dragon Clan continues, even if they do not suffer mutual destruction, it will still bring a lot of trouble."

"Why don't I take the lead and let the Divine Lord have a face-to-face talk with the South Sea Dragon Clan? If they can reach a consensus or even cooperate, that would be even better!"

Zilin Bodhisattva is a well-known peacemaker among powerful beings. The harmonious coexistence of the various ethnic groups in the South China Sea island chain is largely due to Zilin Bodhisattva.

Su Ji had no objections. All he wanted was to protect the basic rights and interests of his own East-West Chamber of Commerce. Achieving his goal through talks was definitely more convenient than fighting.

Under the arrangement of the Purple Forest Bodhisattva, the South Sea Dragon Clan and Su Ji met in the Purple Bamboo Forest. In addition to the South Sea Dragon Lord who had appeared earlier, a powerful dragon clan member also came.

"Venerable Qionglong, please take a seat!" At the invitation of Bodhisattva Zilin, a tall figure with a dragon's head and a human body took a seat.

The Venerable Qionglong was not his true form, but rather summoned a dharma image.

Even so, Venerable Qionglong still spoke with a condescending attitude: "Golden Toad God, you injured my general without cause and chased the South Sea Dragon Lord for hundreds of miles, almost causing my South Sea Dragon Clan to lose face. If it weren't for the invitation from Bodhisattva Zilin, we would definitely have had a fight!"

Ultimately, even if Su Ji had the Nine Heavens Prime Minister, Soul Spirit Emperor, behind him, he was still just a God of Wealth, naturally inferior to these venerable ones.

Su Ji raised an eyebrow: "It was clearly the South Sea God General who stirred up trouble and obstructed our East-West Merchant Guild's ships, yet you insist on blaming others. Do you really think the South Sea belongs to your Dragon Clan? If you don't want to talk, let's have a fight!"

This statement was highly provocative, not only because Su Ji had the support of the Crimson Emperor, but also because he was very confident in his own combat strength.

Currently, he only needs one more [Root Method], Yin-Yang Harmony, to reach the Perfected Path Opening Realm. Once he unleashes his full power, he will be no weaker than an ordinary Immortal Lord. If he uses the branch given by the Heavenly Treasure Spiritual Root, the Fusang Divine Tree, he can also draw upon the divine power of the Great Sun. As long as he doesn't fight within the Daoist temple of the Lone Dragon Venerable, he has no fear of such a powerful being who has merged with the Dao of Heaven and Earth.

The Venerable Qionglong never expected Su Ji to be so defiant, and his eyes flashed with anger: "Even if you manage to escape from my grasp, unless your merchant ships never enter my South China Sea territory again, we will capsize them every time we see them!"

The South China Sea Dragon Clan has a geographical advantage, and unless the merchant ships of the East-West Chamber of Commerce can fly, they will definitely be threatened by the South China Sea Dragon Clan.

"Gentlemen!" Seeing Su Ji and Venerable Qionglong at each other's throats, Bodhisattva Zilin quickly stepped in to advise, "Peace is the best policy in all things. Why make enemies so easily? If you sit down and have a proper talk, perhaps you can reach an agreement..."

The influence of the Purple Forest Bodhisattva was still quite useful. Venerable Qionglong snorted coldly and said no more. Su Ji also put away his imposing manner and sat down.

Next, under the guidance of Bodhisattva Zilin, Su Ji and Venerable Qionglong began talks on the voyage of merchant ships of the East-West Chamber of Commerce.

The South China Sea Dragon Clan demanded that the East-West Merchant Guild establish fixed shipping routes, offer sacrifices to the Dragon God on each voyage, and erect a statue of the Dragon Emperor on the ships…

Now that the East-West Chamber of Commerce's shipping business is developing, Su Ji can only make some concessions while firmly holding onto his bottom line.

However, Venerable Qionglong suddenly added, "It is said that the Divine Lord is quite close to the Phoenix Clan's grotto-heaven. If our Dragon Clan goes to war with the Phoenix Clan in the future, I hope that the Divine Lord can maintain his detached status and not get involved!"

The feud between the Dragon and Phoenix clans has continued from ancient times to the present day, and it has long been engraved in their bloodline, to the point that they will not give up until death.

After so many years of development, although the Dragon Clan has long become the overlord of the four seas, they are worried that the Phoenix Clan, which only has one last spark left, will be reborn from the ashes.

The Heavenly Court's attitude is currently ambiguous, so the Dragon Clan can only try to find out the truth from other aspects. Although Su Ji has a transcendent status, he does not have much power, so he has become the target of the Dragon Clan's warning.

"The Phoenix Clan?"

Long before, Su Ji had already made an agreement with the Phoenix Clan God to rescue the Phoenix Emperor, and there was no way he would change his mind.

However, his act of saving the Phoenix Emperor and the battle between the dragon and the phoenix are clearly two separate matters, and to some extent there is no conflict between them.

So Su Ji simply smiled faintly: "As long as you don't provoke me, what does the battle between the dragon and the phoenix have to do with me?"

Of course, if the Dragon Clan's attack on the Phoenix Clan's grotto-heaven affected Su Ji, who was cultivating there, he would have a reason to intervene.

"What do you mean by dragon and phoenix fighting! Dragons and phoenixes once played music in harmony in ancient times, why must they fight to the death?" As if provoked, Bodhisattva Zilin kept trying to persuade Venerable Qionglong.

So much so that even Venerable Qionglong was somewhat overwhelmed and made an excuse to get up and take his leave.

Su Ji achieved his goal and soon left.

From then on, the fleet of the East-West Chamber of Commerce began sailing in the South China Sea. In just six months, it became the largest supplier of goods to the South China Sea island chain, making a fortune. The South China Sea island chain also obtained a large amount of goods from the Central Plains, greatly enriching the lives of the people.

Just as the East-West trade fleet was thriving, the imperial court suddenly intervened. After a new law was promulgated, most of the East-West trade fleet's assets were directly nationalized, and the fleet was completely taken over by the imperial court.

Even Su Ji couldn't help but feel a bit angry, and after he learned the reason behind it, he felt a chill run down his spine.

It turns out that since Brahma joined the Heavenly Court, the Brahma religion has spread rampantly throughout the world, and after several years of development, it has spread all over the country.

In recent years, Buddhist followers have colluded with wealthy landowners to evade taxes, causing the imperial court's tax revenue to decrease year by year.

The emperor wanted to take action against Buddhism, but he encountered great resistance. Besides the Buddhist followers, the biggest obstacle was actually the officials.

The officials served in the imperial court, but in the local areas they were powerful and wealthy families. Even the emperor could hardly stand up to them and could only settle for second best. At the suggestion of the officials, the revenue of the East-West Chamber of Commerce was used to make up for the deficit in the national treasury.

"The Buddhist sect has become too powerful to control, and may have already shaken the foundation of the Heavenly Emperor's faith... Why hasn't the Heavenly Court taken any action?" Su Ji was completely puzzled.

Yan Tianchou offered several conjectures: "Perhaps the Heavenly Emperor has already taken action, but it remains unknown to outsiders; or perhaps the Heavenly Emperor finds it difficult to change the people's beliefs and can only let nature take its course; of course, the Heavenly Emperor may also be playing the long game..." (End of Chapter)