Ming Dynasty: Gain one supernatural power every day

Zhu Gaoxu stood atop the white tiger's head, his robes fluttering in the wind, hands on his hips, looking down at the ever-receding Yingtian Prefecture below: "How exhilarating! Last time I flew this high, I was riding on my fourth brother's sword. This time is different; this time, I rode the clouds myself to get here!"

He patted the white tiger's cloud-like ears, and the white tiger wagged its tail obediently, making him grin from ear to ear with pride. "Boss, don't you think so? Driving yourself and riding in someone else's car are two completely different things!"

Standing on the back of the Vermilion Bird, Zhu Gaochi, unusually, did not refute the second brother, and slowly said, "It is indeed different. I feel more at ease riding the clouds myself. Although the fourth brother protected us last time, I still felt a little dangerous."

He pondered for a moment: "Besides, last time I was so nervous riding on my fourth brother's sword that I didn't get a chance to see anything. This time, riding the clouds myself, I was finally able to see the whole of Yingtian Prefecture."

Zhu Gaosui sat on the back of Xuanwu, as taciturn as ever: "Eldest brother and second brother are right. It is indeed different..."

Zhang Yan sat nestled among the Vermilion Bird's wings, one arm around Zhu Zhanyin, the other supporting Princess Jiaxing, looking down at the palace below that was growing smaller and smaller.

He couldn't help but sigh, "Last time, when Fourth Brother took you all flying on your swords, my younger siblings and I were very envious. This time, it's finally our turn to fly up here. I never thought I'd actually be able to ride the clouds like in those stories."

Princess Jiaxing, perched on the wings of the Vermilion Bird, cautiously peeked out, her head tucked in between fear and curiosity. "Mother, is that shiny river down there the Qinhuai River?" she asked.

Zhang Yan smiled and nodded, reaching out to tuck the stray hairs that had been blown across her forehead by the wind behind her ear.

Sitting comfortably on the white tiger's back, Wei Shi immediately chimed in upon hearing Zhang Yan's words. Although her voice wasn't as loud as Zhu Gaoxu's, it was still full of energy: "Sister-in-law is right! Last time the second son came back, he bragged to us about how majestic it was to fly on a sword and how beautiful the scenery was above the clouds. I could only listen, and I was so envious."

As she spoke, she patted the back of the white tiger cloud beneath her, her tone tinged with satisfaction. "This time I finally got to experience it for myself. This cloud is so soft, it's much more comfortable than a sedan chair. I used to think sedan chairs were quite stable, but now that I think about it, what a relief! From now on, I'll never take a sedan chair again, I'll just fly there on a cloud... If I never fly in this life, I've truly wasted my life."

Sitting on the back of Xuanwu, holding Princess Zhending in her arms, Madam Weng still had that gentle and tender demeanor: "Eldest sister-in-law and second sister-in-law are right. This is also my first time flying in the sky. My heart was pounding for a while when we took off, but I'm not scared now. The scenery here is indeed different."

The children were ecstatic. Zhu Zhanhe, perched beside the white tiger's ear, shouted at the top of his lungs to Zhu Zhanji atop the vermilion bird beside him, "Big brother! Look, I can fly! I have my own cloud now!"

Zhu Zhanji sat atop the Vermilion Bird's tail feathers and retorted disdainfully, "Your cloud is controlled by your second uncle; you're not flying on your own!"

Zhu Zhanhe was so upset by what he heard that he immediately turned around and shouted at Zhu Gaoxu, "Father! Can you let me control myself for a while? Can I fly by myself for a bit?!"

"You little brat, flying so high, what if you can't control it?" Zhu Gaoxu was in high spirits and was not about to relinquish control.

Zhu Zhanqi, sitting on the white tiger's hind legs, turned back and shouted to Zhu Zhanyi on the black tortoise, "Zhanyi! Why is your tortoise flying so slowly!"

Sitting on the back of Xuanwu, Zhu Zhanyi replied in a serious tone, "This is Xuanwu, not a tortoise."

Four figures flew through the sky above Yingtianfu, chatting and laughing along the way. With children in the air, they didn't fly too fast, but floated slowly, letting the gentle breeze caress their faces.

After flying for a short while, Zhu Zhanhe's stomach growled first. "Father, I'm hungry!"

At his shout, Zhu Zhanqi rubbed his stomach as well. Zhu Zhanyong poked his head out from behind the Vermilion Bird and called out to Zhu Gaoxi, "Fourth Uncle! I want to go to your house for some delicious food!"

"Fourth Uncle, I want to eat too..."

"Fourth Uncle, I want a drink."

Zhu Gaoxi glanced back at his hungry nephews, smiled, turned his dragon head, and flew towards the sky above the Prince Rui's residence: "Alright, come with your fourth uncle, I'll take you to eat something good."

Seeing that his fourth son was flying over the Prince Rui's residence, Zhu Gaochi prepared to control the Vermilion Bird to descend.

Zhu Gaoxi waved his hand: "Brother, you don't need to go down, just follow me."

Zhu Gaoxu stood on the white tiger's head, looked up, and saw nothing but blue sky and white clouds above him.

He couldn't help but ask, "Fourth brother, where are we going? There's nothing up here!"

Madam Wei patted Baihu on the back: "Second brother, just listen to your fourth brother, why say so much? Your fourth brother wouldn't sell you out, would he?"

Zhu Gaoxu was both amused and exasperated by Wei's words. He turned to Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaosui beside him and said, "Eldest brother, third brother, do you see? We must never offend our fourth brother. If we offend him, we might not even be able to go home."

Zhu Gaochi nodded in deep agreement.

Zhang Yan, with her arm around Zhu Zhanyin, said to Zhu Gaochi, "You still dare to offend Fourth Brother? If you upset him, don't even think about going back to the Eastern Palace."

Zhu Gaochi quickly waved his hand: "How could that be? I certainly wouldn't upset my fourth brother. I'm too busy trying to curry favor with him."

Zhu Gaoxu immediately corrected him, "Brother, you're wrong. What do you mean by 'flattering'? We brothers call this building ties. 'Flattering' is too vulgar."

Zhang Yan rarely sided with Zhu Gaoxu, and said with a smile, "Second Prince is right, Your Highness. Listen to what Second Prince said, it's very good. You should learn more from Second Prince in this regard."

While the group was chatting and laughing, Zhu Gaoxi had already flown to the front of the barrier of the Tiangong.

He raised his hand and waved it gently. The invisible light shield that Liu Shen had set up earlier slowly appeared. A faint rainbow light flowed across the surface of the transparent light shield. Then, an entrance opened silently.

When he extracted the divine power of the rat talisman from Liu Shen's body, he was worried that the barrier Liu Shen had set up might also dissipate. After Liu Shen turned into a wooden sculpture, he found that the barrier and everything else were still there, and the things that had been set up had not disappeared.

These creations, which are already stable, will not disappear just because the source of divine power is taken away, just as a carved stone statue will not automatically collapse when the sculptor leaves.

Otherwise, if he summons the God of Wealth in the future, and the God of Wealth uses his supernatural powers to conjure up a bunch of gold ingots, and then he takes away the God of Wealth's divine power, it would be awkward if those gold ingots disappeared!

Zhu Gaochi was speaking when his words abruptly stopped.

"Hiss!" Everyone present exclaimed in surprise, all of them startled by the sudden appearance of the heavenly palace.

The children stared wide-eyed. Princess Zhending peeked out from under Madam Weng's arms and exclaimed in a childish voice, "Wow—is this Fourth Uncle's palace?"

A palace appeared before everyone's eyes. It had a base of white jade, beams of purple sandalwood, upturned eaves, and windows on all four sides.

In front of the palace was a small square, with a spirit stone lamp standing on each side. Wisteria vines hung down in the garden behind the palace. The entire palace was suspended above a huge somersault cloud, enveloped by a barrier, and glowed with a faint light.

Zhu Gaochi turned his head, looked at the calm-faced Zhu Gaoxi, and his lips moved: "Fourth brother, this is... yours?"

Zhu Gaoxi jumped down from Xiao Jin's back and landed on the cloud-patterned stone slab. He turned around and waved to the crowd: "Well, this is my residence in the sky. The Heavenly Palace. Don't just stand outside and look, come in and talk."