Chapter 36: The Heavenly Mandate and the Virtuous Conduct of God

  Xuan Xing Zhu, Zhang Di Xin had once mentioned this to Nezha. After all, he couldn't always use his identity as the Great Merchant Tianzi to wander around. If there was a treasure that could change one's appearance and not be discovered by others, it would be for the best.

  Nezha pays homage to Zhao Gongming, and without forgetting to ask, he inquires and then brings him to Changge. He had originally intended to deliver it personally to Zhang Dixing, but unexpectedly, earlier at Qianyuan Mountain, he was trapped and after waking up, Zhang Dixing's whereabouts were unknown again. Alas, the time for his return is approaching, so he can only leave it with Wen Zhong to hand over.

  Zhang Di Xin finally opened the box, and inside, he saw a cow's eye-sized pearl lying quietly. Under the soft light, it emitted a faint, mysterious blue glow. As soon as he picked it up, a warm feeling rose from his hand. It was indeed a rare treasure. "Master Wen," he asked, "how should this be used?"

  "It can be placed on the body, and with a thought, it can transform its shape." Wen Zhong only spoke of its function, but didn't ask what it was. Firstly, to avoid slandering the wise ruler, and secondly, when accompanying the king or a tiger, not everything needs to be known. If the king wants to say something, he will naturally inform you; if the king doesn't speak, then even knowing is like not knowing.

  Zhang Emperor Xinxin was overjoyed to see the shape-shifting pearl, but he didn't pay attention to what Wen Zhong was thinking. He held it in his hand, and suddenly a vision of Fei Zhong flashed before his eyes. He only felt his body getting fatter, and in an instant, a sly-looking fat man appeared before Wen Taishi: "Taishi, can you tell true from false?"

  Wen Zhong gazed intently for a long time, but didn't notice anything unusual. In his heart, he thought that Emperor Zhang was testing him. He opened one eye and suddenly a golden light appeared, enveloping the emperor within it. After a while, there was still no effect. Wen Taishi could only shake his head: "If this were an ordinary magical pearl, I would be able to see through it. But looking at Your Majesty is like falling into clouds - I couldn't distinguish your true appearance."

  "Hear me, Taishi! Don't try to deceive me!" Although Zhang Emperor Xin said so, in his heart he had great faith in the Illusory Pearl that Nezha possessed. With this object, future actions would be much more convenient.

  Wen Zhong himself did not dare to deceive, the two talked for a long time, seeing that Taishi's spirit was not high, Zhang Emperor Xin just left, all the way, thinking about the matter of Chao Ge, involuntarily knotting his heart, the heavy ministers in the court were like this, what about the tens of thousands of people in Chao Ge City.

  "The Son of Heaven does not respect the will of heaven, and the heavenly way naturally punishes. Emperor Xin, do you still not know your mistake?" Suddenly, two beams of light, one gold and one white, descended from the sky and landed in front of him. The first person was the Silver Yuan Heavenly General who had escaped earlier. Behind him stood another person, wearing a yellow eight-trigram Daoist robe with a high crown on his head, a white belt wrapped around his waist, and holding a golden feather fan in his hand.

  Zhang Di Xin didn't know this person, but he could sense that his cultivation was extraordinary, far surpassing the Silver Yuan Tian Jiang in front of him: "I left earlier without knowing that the immortal would return. I came to find my master and only then did I come here."

  "Di Xin! You..." The Silver Yuan Tian had left early, but was ridiculed by Zhang Di Xin as a beast. This time, he brought people back, and it seemed to have fulfilled the previous words. How could he not be angry at this moment?

  That man saw this, but was a faint smile, stepped forward and stood in front of the Silver Yuan Tian: "Your Majesty, the Heavenly General has a great responsibility, to nurture all the people, the Son of Heaven should respect the heavenly grace, how can he not be respectful?"

  "Three incense sticks to worship heaven, encountering a festival to offer tribute, what is the meaning of not showing respect? Instead, it's about silver coins. Not respecting the Son of Heaven, yet claiming to know the will of heaven, isn't that going against heaven?" Zhang Emperor Xin didn't follow the Taoist's words, but instead asked for the silver coin and said, "Under the vast sky, all people are children of heaven. This person is as insignificant as a weed, does he deserve punishment or not?"

  "Emperor Xin! Don't confuse black and white!" Yin Yuantian was furious upon hearing this, his face red with rage, but what Zhang Emperor Xin said made sense, making it difficult to refute. "From the day Shang became Zhou's vassal, they paid annual tribute. Now that you're of age, why refuse? Isn't that ignoring the will of Heaven?"

  "Haha... A strong fist is the true way, if not for Little Wang's minor achievement, wouldn't it be you who suffered a loss that day?" Zhang Emperor Xin saw Silver Yuan Tian wanting to take advantage of the situation and directly ridiculed him.

  The silver dollar will soon know its own fault, and even more so, it does not want to admit its own defeat. The rumor has spread too far, and can only be silenced. A certain Taoist priest sees this and secretly resents the ruthless and cunning Wu Wang.

  "What Your Majesty has said is indeed correct, but I don't know what to think about it?" The Taoist priest flicked his sleeve and scowled, "You are the Son of Heaven, we cultivators can't do anything about it, but I wonder if the millions of people in the capital have the same fortune as Your Majesty, or whether they will be harmed by the epidemic?"

  It's indeed a heavenly show! Things have come to this, how could Zhang Emperor Xin still not know the origin of the epidemic? He thought to himself, what a great Heavenly Emperor, what a great heavenly will, treating the lives of millions as nothing more than weeds, and life as insignificant as ants!

  The threat, the words of that person, was a naked threat. Zhang Emperor Xin's heart was angry, but he had to calm down and asked: "Is this the order of the Heavenly Emperor or your own?"

  "Hahaha... God is also the Son of Heaven, and the Son of Heaven conveys the will of heaven. Why must Your Majesty ask so many questions?" The Taoist priest flicked his wrist and took out a yellow silk handkerchief. "If Your Majesty can resolve this crisis, you should follow the natural course of events. Wait until the 15th day of the month, and then the golden virtue will come to dispel the calamity."

  Jin De, Yin Yuan, I will not spare you! Zhang Emperor Xin was filled with great hatred in his heart, but he knew that he could not act at this time. Firstly, for the sake of the millions of people in the capital, if he acted rashly, the plague might spread even more, and it would be too late to rescue and treat them. Secondly, as the Son of Heaven, he could not expose himself excessively: "The Emperor Xin received the edict, and if an opportunity arises tomorrow, I will definitely come to your door to thank you."

  Jin De Dao people, Yin Yuan Tian Jiang, upon hearing Zhang Emperor Xin's words, burst into laughter. A small emperor king, how can he find a fairy to avoid calamity? This is just a momentary slip of the tongue, and it's not worth being afraid of. With a faint smile: "In that case, we will wait for Your Majesty in the Hao Ting Xiao Du Tian."

  "It's so good, I thought it would be above the thirty-third heaven, but unexpectedly it's so close." The Hao Ting Xiang degree of heaven, Zhang Emperor Xin didn't know which layer of heaven he was in, only that his mouth wasn't convinced, passing on the teachings that there were thirty-six heavens, with San Qing occupying one heaven each. This answer was also for the sake of appearances.

  Jin De Dao Ren, Yin Yuan Tian Jiang listened and immediately changed his expression. The three heavens are the dwelling place of saints, how can they be above? This small emperor, however, deliberately spoke with intent to humiliate: "Hmph, Your Majesty's words are near, you can go up yourself, I'll wait respectfully at all times!"

  "See you off, Immortal!" Jin De Dao Ren and Yin Yuan Tian Jiang said as soon as they finished speaking, they rode the clouds and left. Zhang Di Xin respectfully bid farewell with his mouth, but in his heart, he thought: Heaven is not benevolent, treating all things like straw dogs. This time, you two will never return to the Heavenly Court again!

  Zhang Emperor Xin was about to move his body, but saw a person with eyes in his hand, hands in his eyes, and drove the cloud to come. This person was Yang Ren!

  Zhang Di Xin couldn't help but feel delighted, with this person by his side, he felt a sense of security that was one part more...

  "This Son of Heaven is so ignorant of the current situation, if he waits for the future, according to what Saintly Emperor said, this energy will inevitably surge up. As Yin Tian walked along the way, he always felt a strange atmosphere, ordinary people in the mortal world who saw the heavenly general would all treat him with reverence, but only Di Xin was an exception. 'That person previously launched a sneak attack on me, using something extraordinary, should have some backing, but I don't know which immortal sect it is, yet he actually disregarded the heavenly mandate and secretly assisted this person.'"

  Jin Derdao heard this and thought that the situation he saw today was about to change, but suddenly a strong gust of wind blew in front of him, and half of the heavenly stars were gone.

  In the dark wind, five-colored ghost heads faintly appeared, seeming to have a great ominous sign. The silver yuan Tian was about to swallow Zhang Emperor's Xin Gui, who was already angry and saw these five ghosts blocking his way. His heart greatly rejoiced: "What kind of evil beasts dare to block the immortal's path!"

  A five-colored gust of wind arose, and a large ghostly face appeared in the air. The Silver General was about to charge forward when a yellow talisman shot out from his hand. A burst of flames erupted, causing the ghostly face to recoil in pain. Realizing it was no match for its opponent, the ghostly face whipped up a fierce gust of wind and fled.

  "Monster, where are you going!" Seeing this, Yin Yuantian was unwilling to give up and transformed into a silver light, closely following behind. Jin Demao knew that the five ghosts were just small Dao, so he didn't stop them, letting them go as they pleased.

  Just as the silver yuan was about to leave, a man wearing an eight-trigram patterned long gown and holding a silver silk dusting brush appeared in the distance, walking slowly towards them. Jin De saw him and couldn't help but frown: "Tai Yi Daoist friend, where are you going at this hour?"

  Taiyi True Person's gaze slightly lifted, seeing it was Jinde Daoist, he stroked his beard and slowly said: "I observe the celestial phenomena, knowing my disciple has descended, specially came to collect my disciple, I don't know why fellow daoist Jinde is here?"

  Jin De Dao Ren had long heard people mention Tai Yi Zhen Ren, who had a master-disciple relationship in the mortal world, but didn't know where it was. Seeing his response, he also put his mind at ease: "It's just a trivial matter of the Heavenly Court, disturbing my quiet cultivation on Jiuyao Mountain. Where would a true immortal be so carefree?"

  Taiyi Zhenren chuckled and calculated with his fingers, then slowly said: "It's just that I was impatient and came a few days early. Those trivial matters, I don't know if you can help me with one or two things."

  Jin De Dao Ren saw Tai Yi being so close, and thought that although Tian Ting and Zhan Jiao were two different schools, they had already made a secret agreement. This person was an original saint of the Golden Immortal door, and wouldn't cause any problems, so he agreed: "Thank you, Tai Yi Dao friend."

  Two people chatted happily along the way, Jin De asked questions one by one, and Tai Yi answered them one by one without hesitation. His defense also relaxed: "Emperor Xin is still the Son of Heaven, if not afraid of cause and effect, he would have understood this person earlier and avoided some trouble."

  Taiyi Zhenren listened to the words, nodded only, but his body quietly hid behind Jinde's back, and his hand secretly touched something, raised his hand and stabbed: "The emperor's life, how can it be taken personally? That cause and effect, isn't it what you and I can bear?"

  Jin De Dao Ren only listened to Tai Yi's words, but behind his back, he felt a sharp pain, a chill pierced his heart and bones, and the blood vessels in his body began to speed up rapidly!

  "Taiyi Daoist friend, what's going on!" Jin De Daoist suddenly pulled back, but the thing seemed to come alive and directly entered his body. His entire body's energy channels immediately became disordered!

  Taiyi Zhenren listened to Jinde's scolding, but instead of getting angry, he just chuckled and continued working without stopping. He raised the gold brick and smashed it!

  At this time, Jindao's heart was already filled with regret, knowing that Taiyi had become a renowned Golden Immortal. He knew he couldn't defeat him even if he tried, so he didn't counterattack and instead transformed into the wind to escape!

  "Golden Deity, where are you going!" Golden Deity had just turned around when he saw a brilliant light in front of him. In the blink of an eye, the True Fire of Samadhi swept towards him!

  "Who are you! How dare you launch a sneak attack on me!" Jin De Dao Ren didn't have time to react, the True Fire of Samadhi had already ignited his body, "Boom" sounded a loud noise, and in an instant, a fireball appeared in mid-air. As soon as he finished speaking, the Golden Brick invaded, making a dull "Hong" sound, the fireball seemed to explode, turning into scattered fireworks in the air, falling down in an instant.

  Poor Golden Way cultivator, before he even knew who ambushed him, his body had already died and his Dao was extinguished! The True Person of Taiyi looked down with a glance, muttering to himself: "Heaven's way opposes me, I will oppose Heaven!"