Ch.2:

Since they were deities who ascended respectably, keeping in mind their status, they were

generally more discreet and often haughty in their speech and action. He himself had been the

only one who went to greet every single heavenly official inside the communication array out of

excitement the first time he ascended, incomparably earnest and exceedingly thorough in

introducing himself from head to toe.

After he exited that array he went on another random search, and entered into another one

randomly. This time when he went in, he relaxed, thinking to himself, “How quiet, it’s probably

this one.”

Just then, he heard a voice say softly, “So, Your Highness is back?”

It was a very comfortable voice, the sound soft and gentle, the tone decorous. However, if one

was to listen to it closely, one would discover that the voice was quite cool and indifferent, and

the sentiment it carried was also cool and distant; causing that soft gentleness to turn into

something more malicious in intent.

Xie Lian had originally wanted to enter the array manneredly and lie low quietly, but since the

other party had already addressed him, he couldn’t keep pretending to be deaf and mute.

Besides, he was still very delighted that there were actually heavenly officials in the Upper Court

who would willingly start a conversation with a God of Misfortune like himself.

Thus, he quickly answered, “Yeah! Hello everyone, I’m back again.”

Yet little did he know, after this exchange, every single heavenly official who was currently

inside the communication array all perked up.

That heavenly official said languidly, “Your Highness certainly ascended with great force this

time, huh.”

Within the Upper Court of heaven, emperors, kings, generals, chancellors were found

everywhere, and heroes flowed like the water.

In order to become a deity, one must first achieve greatness. Within the mortal realm, those who

had established laurels or ones possessing great talent had always had a greater chance at

ascension. Thus, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that rulers, princes, royalty, generals, none of

these were a rarity here. Everyone was a Darling of the Heavens. Everyone was proprietary

with each other, so they would address one another as Your Majesty, Your Highness, Lord

General, Alliance Chief, Head Chief; all sorts, as long as the address was flattering.

However, the words from this one heavenly official seemed to have something underlying in the

tone. Although he said “Your Highness” this, “Your Highness” that, Xie Lian couldn’t sense a bit

of respect from him at all; it was more like he was poking with a needle. There were also several

heavenly officials inside the communication array who were authentic crown princes, and they were feeling the hairs on their neck rise from such an address, incredibly uncomfortable. Xie

Lian could tell that the other party didn’t come with good intentions, but he didn’t want to fight

and so chose to run instead.

He smiled. “It’s not too bad.”

However, that heavenly official wouldn’t give him the chance to run, and said impassively, “It’s

Your Highness, after all, so not too bad. But my luck doesn’t seem to be as good.”

Suddenly, Xie Lian heard a private message from Ling Wen.

She only said one word: “Bell.”

Instantly, Xie Lian understood.

So, this was the martial god who was hit by the bell!

If that was the case, then the other party wasn’t angry without reason. Xie Lian had always been

very good at apologizing, so he immediately said, “I’ve heard about the accident with the bell,

I’m dreadfully sorry, I do apologize.”

The other party humphed, the meaning unclear.

There were a great number of renowned martial gods in the heavenly realm, and many of them

were newly-ascended dignitaries who came after Xie Lian’s time. Just by voice alone Xie Lian

couldn’t be sure who this person was, but he couldn’t stay ignorant of his name after apologizing

either.

So Xie Lian asked, “Might I ask how I may address my lord?”

The moment he spoke, the other side fell silent. Not only did the other side fall silent, the entire

communication array was like it had frozen, and suddenly the air was dead.

On the other end, Ling Wen sent him another voice message. “Your Highness, although I don’t

think you wouldn’t have recognized him after talking for so long, but I still want to give you a

reminder. That’s Xuan Zhen.”

“Xuan Zhen?” Xie Lian said.

He was stumped for a moment before he finally came around, and sent a voice message back

in shock. “That’s Mu Qing?”

General Xuan Zhen was the Martial God of the Southwest, and possessed seven thousand

temples. His name in the human world was considerably distinguished. And the original name of this General Xuan Zhen was Mu Qing. Eight hundred years ago, he

was a deputy general at the Xianle Palace of the Crown Prince.

Ling Wen was also quite shocked. “You really didn’t recognize him?”

“I really didn’t,” Xie Lian replied. “He didn’t talk to me like this back then. Besides, I can’t even

recall when the last time we met, it was either five or six centuries ago. I can barely remember

what he looks like, so how can I possibly remember what his voice sounds like?”

The communication array was still deep in silence. Mu Qing didn’t utter a sound, and the other

heavenly officials were pretending they weren’t listening while waiting on the edge of their seats

for whichever one would continue the conversation.

Things were rather awkward when it came to these two. After so many years of twisted

rumours, everyone basically knew most of the story at this point. Back then, when Xie Lian was

still the esteemed Crown Prince of Xianle, he trained at the Royal Holy Pavilion. This Royal Holy

Pavilion was a royal cultivation hall in the Kingdom of Xianle, with a very strict standard in

selecting disciples. Mu Qing came from an impoverished background, and his father was an

executed criminal; someone like this didn’t qualify to enter the Royal Holy Pavilion, so he could

only run errands. Within the temple grounds, he was someone who cleaned the royal highness’

room and served tea and water.

Xie Lian saw how hard he was working, so he requested for the guoshi to make an exception to

take Mu Qing in as a disciple. It was only by the golden mouth of the royal highness that Mu

Qing could enter the temple to cultivate, and be trained alongside the crown prince. Then after

ascension, Xie Lian appointed him his general, and took him along to the Heavenly Capital.

However, when the Kingdom of Xianle fell and Xie Lian was banished to the mortal world, Mu

Qing didn’t follow him. Not only did he not follow, he never even spoke a word in Xie Lian’s

favour. Either way, the crown prince was gone, so he was free. He found a cave in a piece of

auspicious land and trained strenuously, and not a few years later, he passed a heavenly

calamity and ascended to heaven himself.

In the past, one was in the heavens and one on earth. Now, there was still one in the heavens

and one on earth — it was just their positions had thoroughly switched, that’s all.

On this end, Ling Wen said, “He’s very angry.”

“I figured as much,” Xie Lian said.

“I’ll go start another topic of conversation, you best take the chance to leave,” Ling Wen said.

“Nah, it’s okay,” Xie Lian replied. “It’s fine as long as we pretend nothing’s happened.”“It’s okay?” Ling Wen said. “I feel awkward just watching you two.”

“It’s not that bad!” Xie Lian replied.

For someone like Xie Lian, anything really was okay aside from death; he didn’t have much, and

certainly not shame. He had suffered much, much more awkward things than this, so he

genuinely felt that this was okay. Yet who knew that “okay” wasn’t a word to be uttered lightly.

He had only just said “it’s okay” when a voice roared angrily.

“WHO THE **** TORE DOWN MY GOLDEN PALACE?! SHOW YOURSELF!!!”

This angry roar was going to make the heads of all the gods explode.

While they were already filled to the brim with surging complaints, each of them still held their

breaths, waiting soundlessly to hear how Xie Lian was going to answer this accusing cry. Yet

unexpectedly, things only got more exciting. Before Xie Lian had opened his mouth, Mu Qing

spoke up first.

Or rather, he only snorted. “Heh.”

The newcomer spat coldly, “You tore it down? Good. Just you wait.”

Mu Qing replied coolly, “I didn’t say it was me, don’t accuse people without evidence.”

The other party said angrily, “Then what are you laughing about? You mental?”

“No reason, you just sound funny, that’s all,” Mu Qing said. “The one who tore down your golden

palace is in the communication array right now, go interrogate him yourself.”

With things reaching this point, Xie Lian was too embarrassed to run away just like that.

He cleared his throat. “It was me. I’m sorry.”

The moment he spoke, that one who came after also fell silent.

Next to his ear, Ling Wen messaged him again. “Your Highness, that’s Nan Yang.”

“This one I knew,” Xie Lian said. “But it seems he didn’t recognize me.”

“He did,” Ling Wen said. “It’s just that he spends more time roaming the mortal realm and rarely

comes back to the Heavenly Capital, so he didn’t know you had ascended again, that’s all.”

Nan Yang Zhenjun was the Martial God of the Southeast, possessed eight thousand temples,

and was incredibly loved by the people.

His original name was Feng Xin, and eight hundred years ago, he was the number one

heavenly general in the Xianle Palace of the Crown Prince.

Feng Xin was loyal to a fault, and had been Xie Lian’s bodyguard since Xie Lian was fourteen

years old. He grew up with the crown prince, they entered the heavens together, were banished

together, and drifted together. Unfortunately, they didn’t manage to endure the eight hundred

years together. In the end, it was an unhappy separation as each went their own paths, never to

meet again.

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