Chapter 123: When You Can't Master It, Just Play Foolishly

Chapter 123: When You Can’t Play It Straight, Just Play Wild

Speaking of the Emperor of Longevity, it’s quite an interesting figure. This person is known for his large forehead and his dominion over life itself. He is said to preside over the South Pole, called the Immortal Elder of the South Pole, and is one of the Four Assistants under the Three Pure Ones.

The Three Pure Ones—Jade Pure, Supreme Pure, and Grand Pure—are immensely powerful, each commanding four remarkable aides. The Jade Emperor rules over all gods; the Emperor Ziwei commands all stars; the Heavenly Sovereign Gouchen is the pivot of heaven; and the Empress of the Earth, Mother of All Lands, governs the earth itself.

Focusing on the Emperor of Longevity: legend has it that during the original True King’s journey through the Jade Capital’s lower realms, he united with a goddess with a tremendously long and complex title—Grandmother of All Vital Energies, Primordial Supreme Jade Pure Spirit Mother of the Ninth Heaven (quite a mouthful)—and through the Great Dao of Unity of Yin and Yang in the Supreme Cavern, they begot eight sons. The eldest was named the Emperor of Longevity of the South Pole. He also goes by the titles Dragon Nine, Emperor of the Sun Palace of Fusang, and Supreme God of the Jade Pure Sky. One man with three grand titles—truly awe-inspiring.

The Emperor of Longevity is formidable indeed. Beyond the noble tales of him rushing through the celestial realms to save those in peril, his own strength rivals that of Emperor Ziwei himself.

It is said that he governs the thirty-six heavens of the Nine Heavens and Three Enclosures—the thirty-two heavens of the Three Enclosures plus four additional celestial realms—and commands thirty-six Heavenly Lords. Simultaneously, he directly oversees the Nine Vital Energy Divine Lords of Fusang’s Sun.

These Nine Vital Energy Divine Lords are primordial embodiments of the original nine vital energies formed at the dawn of chaos, each an astonishingly powerful being, existing for countless eons.

What makes these Nine Vital Energy Divine Lords most terrifying are their divine abilities. Some say they have attained the Heavenly Lord realm; others say they have reached the True Lord realm; still others claim they have reached the level of Immortal Realm, standing on equal footing with the three ancient gods under Emperor Ziwei—Taiyi of Heaven, Taiyi of Earth, and Taiyi of the Underworld. Of course, the True King realm is beyond such categorization. Regardless, these Nine Vital Energy Divine Lords are at least at the True Lord level.

This time, the Emperor of Longevity leads with his crown prince, supported by the Nine Vital Energy Divine Lords, dispatching ten generals and ten elite Tiger Guards. He issues summons to the kings of the nine wild realms: the Heavenly King of the Northeast Change, the Heavenly King of the Northern Mysterious Heaven, and the Heavenly King of the Northwest Netherworld (Tang Youyou has been proactive and already arrived at Bisu Two), calling forth their elite troops to stand ready.

He also calls on the six heavens of the Desire Realm and the two other heavenly lords of the Color Realm in the same direction to prepare for war. (The six heavens of the Desire Realm are the Supreme Emperor Huangzeng Heaven, Supreme Brightness Yuwan Heaven, Clear Brightness Hetong Heaven, Mysterious Womb Pingyu Heaven, Prime Brightness Wenju Heaven, and Supreme Brightness Seven Luminaries Mayi Heaven; the two Color Realm heavens in the same direction are Voidless Yueheng Heaven and Supreme Ultimate Mengyi Heaven.) Among them, the lords of Supreme Emperor Huangzeng Heaven, Yu Jian Yuming, and Supreme Brightness Yuwan Heaven, Xu Anatian, have been proactive, arriving early at Bisu Two.

The Emperor of Longevity orders the selection of two million elite troops, each soldier no lower than the Nascent Soul realm, arrayed in long walls and ready to move at a moment’s notice.

Of course, the Emperor of Longevity is aware of Emperor Ziwei’s maneuvers, thinking, “You can mobilize your Imperial Guards; well, I can mobilize the forces of the various heavenly lords.”

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Will the Celestial Spring appear? Is this to be a gentle, courteous affair?

Turning back to Bisu Two: everyone there was pretending ignorance while secretly probing for information, unaware that the Three Enclosures were already roiling with storm and thunder.

According to protocol, Sister Su had to first have a meeting with Lord Leizu, receiving arrangements and plans from the Jade Capital of the Heavenly Azure.

Leizu was not one to mince words; he directly stated the intent to inspect the荒星 (Desolate Star), under the guise of expanding the domains of the Three Realms, determined to use thunder techniques to transform the荒星, reviving its vitality and spiritual energy, so it could continue to contribute to the nurturing of heavenly steeds.

Such a good deed should have been welcomed by all celestial beings. However, the situation had changed. Sister Su neither agreed nor disagreed, instead appearing troubled and downcast.

Leizu smirked inwardly, thinking, “Little fox, you don’t dare let me go, do you? There must be some trick on荒星, huh? Fine, I’ll give you some time to consult with your True Martial Emperor.”

So Leizu said that the timing of the inspection and transformation would be decided by Shui Hu, while he would first investigate the state of the Little Thunder Pool’s disrepair.

With this breathing room, Sister Su finally breathed a sigh of relief and then held a discussion with Northwest King Tang Youyou. Leizu went off to speak with Tu Zhe.

Tang Youyou was a rogue given to wine and women, and exceedingly unrestrained. He had long coveted Sister Su.

This time, at Bisu Two, his goals were twofold: first, to urge the owed tribute; second, to gather intelligence on the appearance of the Celestial Spring rumored to emerge there. As for flirting with Sister Su, his attention had shifted to one of the three demonesses at Tu Zhe’s side, Tricia.

Thus, he only confirmed the tribute numbers with Sister Su and set the time and place for payment, then requested to travel within the Bisu range for a few days, hoping for the host’s support.

Though Sister Su was physically delicate, she was no fool—a talented woman indeed. After some thought, she readily agreed, suggesting that other guests might join the tour, so arrangements should be made accordingly.

Tang Youyou, with no further suspicion and distracted by his interest in Tricia, agreed and turned his attention to his beloved.

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Why did Sister Su suddenly agree with Tang Youyou?

From the moment Leizu arrived, Sister Su realized that apart from Tu Zhe and the Immortal Queen, most visitors had come smelling a rat; the affairs of荒星 could no longer be concealed. So, under the name of Bisu Two, she organized a sightseeing group: “Go wherever you wish. You may even visit荒星, but the question is—can you actually get in?”

What followed went smoothly. When the lords of Supreme Emperor Huangzeng Heaven and Supreme Brightness Yuwan Heaven also wished to tour various places, Sister Su readily agreed and secretly sent word to the True Martial Emperor to oversee the entire operation.

Poor Sister Su was starting to lose control.

Meanwhile, when Leizu went to speak with Tu Zhe, he found the Southern Red Heaven’s Flaming Radiance, Thunder Emperor Jiang You, conversing with Tu Zhe.

These two, Jiang You felt he understood the situation of Mount Sumeru fairly well. He knew that after each heavenly son’s birth, there was a coming-of-age ceremony in the Joyous Garden involving intimacy with heavenly maidens, after which all previous memories were erased. Thus, he believed to Tu Zhe he was a stranger now. As for his dog companion—well, born with Tu Zhe, it would have forgotten everything too.

Tu Zhe, on the other hand, believed himself already a heavenly son of Mount Sumeru and wondered how Jiang You could know that he was once a lost spirit.

So the two exchanged pleasantries and enjoyed a lively conversation.

Jiang You warmly invited Tu Zhe to visit his Thunder Emperor’s mansion whenever he had the chance; Tu Zhe took the opportunity to inquire about questions he wished to know.

Jiang You was cooperative, answering all questions, and the two grew increasingly close, soon feeling they had met too late and began to call each other brothers.

In the end, Jiang You even proposed, “Brother, how about we become sworn brothers?”