NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 38: Heavenly Court Mobilizes
Upon walking in, Redcloud Ancestor first glanced at his six disciples. Daoist Duobao, Sacred Mother Jinling, Sacred Mother Wudang, Yunxiao, Qiongxiao, and Bixiao all lowered their heads in shame. He cupped his hand and bowed lightly to Tongtian. "I thank fellow Daoist for saving my useless disciples."
"There's no need to rebuke them," Tongtian said. "In fact, I laud their courage to charge into the World Nexus despite the suppression. If only someone would take lessons from them."
Shuixing yawned and allowed his drooping eyes to close fully, causing Tongtian to grind her teeth together.
"Please don't encourage them. There's a big difference between courage and foolishness," Redcloud Ancestor said.
Tongtian shook her head. "No, their actions have merit. Thanks to Tengri taking action, the restriction in the World Nexus has loosened. Soon, Sky Immortals will no longer be restricted inside the World Nexus. We now know that sufficient force applied within the World Nexus will increase the fusion speed between the Tengri Chaos World and the Three Realms."
"As such, they should be awarded for their efforts," Tongtian said. She waved her hand, and a seven-level pagoda with intricate engravings appeared atop her palm. "This, here, is the Maniwealth Glazed Pagoda. Alone, it's just a mid-grade innate spiritual artifact, but it has two important features that make it rival and possibly surpass top-grade innate spiritual artifacts."
The Maniwealth Glazed Pagoda shimmered with resplendent light. "First, it can store a large amount of energy, whether it be essence or qi. The second and more important feature that benefits from the first is its ability to store seven spiritual artifacts. Once stored, you can activate any of the seven artifacts as you wish and even combine their abilities, provided that you’ve refined them first."
"Daoist Tongtian, this gift is far too precious, please take it back," Redcloud Ancestor said upon learning of the Maniwealth Glazed Pagoda's capabilities.
Tongtian disagreed, “No, it's not. I'm disappointed in the immortals. Despite numerous immortals spreading the Immortal Path and the birth of numerous immortals, hardly any of them dared to venture into the World Nexus. Since that's the case, I have to incentivize them to take action."
Redcloud Ancestor held his tongue. Of the sects founded by Saints, he had the most disciples, and some even called the Interception Sect the sect of ten thousand immortals. Ignoring the Saints, if their sects went to war, the Interception could win through sheer numbers. However, most of them shied away from the conflict, and most of those that Zhen Yuanzi appointed as Suzerains only enjoyed the benefits but didn't put in any work.
"Duobao, hurry and thank the Jade Emperor," Redcloud Ancestor said.
Daoist Duobao broke out of his reverie and quickly bowed to Tongtian. "I thank Your Eminence for this great bestowal."
Tongtian smiled and then turned toward Sacred Mother Jinling. "I see that your origin is that of a soul conceived within a metal spiritual vein, so I bequeath these two spiritual artifacts to you."
Two objects appeared in front of her, a chariot that exuded seven different types of aromas and a golden sword. "The first artifact is the Seven Fragrance Chariot. It can ward off bad luck for the rider and possibly even reverse it into good luck."
"The second is only an acquired spiritual artifact, but its offensive capabilities should not be underestimated. I personally refined it and imbued it with my understanding of the Law of Metal and numerous sword arts," Tongtian waved her hand, and the two spiritual artifacts drifted toward Sacred Mother Jinling. "Its name is Aureate Flying Sword."
Sacred Mother Jinling's eyes never left the Aureate Flying Sword. Upon receiving them, she gratefully expressed her thanks to Tongtian.
Then, Tongtian turned toward Sacred Mother Wudang. Her eyes flickered as she paused imperceptibly. A four-sided pagoda appeared in front of her. "This is the Four Direction Pagoda, an innate spiritual artifact. It can house numerous formations and erect them at a moment's notice, depending on your formation attainments. I no longer need it, so you can have it."
"I thank Your Eminence for this bestowal," Sacred Mother Wudang said as she stored the pagoda.
Sacred Mother Guiling couldn't help but peek at Tongtian in anticipation. She knew that she hadn't rushed into the World Nexus, but that was because she was contacting Redcloud Ancestor in case anything happened. Her hunch turned out to be right. Redcloud Ancestor would have saved her senior brother and sisters had Tongtian not done so first.
The corner of Tongtian's lips quirked up in amusement. It disappeared just as fast, making anyone who saw it think it was an illusion. Her gaze drifted from Sacred Mother Guiling to Shuixing.
Shuixing felt a shiver crawl up his spine. "Master, I just remembered that I had something important to do. I'm going to leave first."
"Hold it." Tongtian reached out, and an invisible force locked the Water Luminary in place. His body trembled as a drop of black blood flew out of him in front of Sacred Mother Guiling.
Shuxing sat on the ground, hugging his knees while rocking back and forth. "Master doesn't like me anymore."
Tongtian ignored her sobbing disciple and said, "You were originally an ordinary turtle, but through a miraculous encounter, your soul changed, and your spirit evolved. You gained sentience despite not reaching the Earth Immortal Realm. Your potential is immense, held back by your frail body."
"This is the concentrated blood essence of the Profound Turtle." Tongtian glanced at Shuixing, whose sob had quieted and was silently peeking at Tongtian. Upon noticing her gaze, he hid his head between his knees and resumed his crying. "Since my disciple is lazy, there's no point in letting him waste a good thing. Absorb it and make up for your deficiencies."
Sacred Mother Guiling hesitated, but after a while, she accepted the Profound Turtle Blood Essence and thanked Tongtian.
Then, Tongtian turned her attention to the Ladies of Three Skies. All three peeked at her with anticipation, especially Bixiao. The silence prolonged, and just as the three thought Tongtian wouldn't award them, she opened her mouth.
"You three were originally three different jades born of the same mineral from Threesky Island. Yunxiao was white jade, Qiongxiao red jade, and Bixiao green jade. After three clouds above the island merged with wisps of chaotic energy, they turned into rain and fell onto the island, allowing you to transform and pursue the Great Dao," Tongtian said, explaining the three's origins.
Yunxiao, Qiongxiao, and Bixiao's expressions stiffened, unsure as to how Tongtian learned of their origins. They hadn't even explained it to Redcloud Ancestor, but recalling that Tongtian was a Saint of Heaven, it did not seem strange if she or their master knew.
Tongtian waved her hand, and three objects appeared in front of her. They were a cluster of nine lanterns, a jade-green vase, and a nine-pointed rake. "For Yunxiao, I bequeath the Ninesoul Lantern. Its effect isn't obvious, but continuous exposure will even affect a Quasi-Saint."
After the Ninesoul Lantern flew to Yunxiao, Tongtian turned to Qiongxiao. "For Qiongxiao, I bequeath upon you the Inner Sea Vase. Within it, contains a boundless space that can store massive amounts of liquid, even the Yellow Spring Truewater."
Bixiao's expression stiffened when the rake flew to her. "This is the Nineflow River Rake. With it, you can instantly form canals. Together with the Inner Sea Vase, you can instantly meet the required conditions to form the Nine Curve Yellow River Array. Coupled with the Ninesoul Lantern, the formation can even rise to another level."
The Ladies of Three Skies thanked Tongtian for her gifts.
Not long later, Redcloud Ancestor proposed they leave, and Tongtian agreed. After they exited Eminence Heaven Palace, she heard Bixiao asking to switch her artifact with either Yunxiao's or Qiongxiao's. To which both denied, causing Tongtian to snort in amusement.
"Alright, stop pretending to cry. I'll make it up to you later, okay?" Tongtian asked, finally acknowledging Shuixing. "Go summon the rest of the luminaries and Great Emperor Curved Array."
Yaochi entered the Eminence Heaven Palace to see Tongtian looking at her impassively. She bowed and asked, "What has Your Eminence summoned me for?"
"We have decided that it is time to escalate the conflict with the Tengri Chaos World. Separate one legion's worth of Earth Immortals into squads, each led by a Sky Immortal," Tongtian said. She waved her hand, and over a hundred thousand low-grade meritorious spiritual artifacts appeared in the air.
Thanks to her ownership of the Allheaven Jianmu Tree, Tongtian constantly received Karmic Merit. In fact, part of the reason that more land wasn't destroyed further by the collisions of two chaos worlds was due to the roots of the Allheaven Jianmu Tree.
Tongtian had wanted to use the roots to infiltrate the core of the Tengri Chaos World, but something blocked the Allheaven Jianmu's roots. She never gave up, but her efforts came up fruitless. That changed when Tengri took action. She noticed a gap in the defenses and struck, allowing the roots to penetrate deeper and increase the speed of the fusion of two worlds in the Three Realms' favor.
While infiltrating the Tengri Chaos World, Tongtian had been infusing her merits into ordinary objects, turning them into low-grade, meritorious spiritual artifacts. Although they were just mass-produced items for her, for the ordinary Earth Immortals, it was a treasure they would have never laid hands on in their entire lives.
"Each Sky Immortal captain will receive one meritorious spiritual artifact. Earth Immortals who have enough contribution can receive meritorious spiritual artifacts. This reward isn't limited to soldiers of the celestial army; loose immortals can obtain meritorious spiritual artifacts, too," Tongtian said. The hundred thousand spiritual artifacts flew toward Yaochi. "As for how to distribute them, We will leave it to you."
Among spiritual artifact types, the strength of meritorious spiritual artifacts varied the most. But it was still a treasure that Sky Immortals would kill for. Even Profound Immortals would find it rare to possess more than one low-grade acquired spiritual artifact.
"As Your Eminence commands," Yaochi said as she stored the hundred thousand meritorious spiritual artifacts. She left soon after because Tongtian had already relayed her orders.
When Yaochi exited Eminence Heaven Palace, she saw Haotian waiting outside. Their gazes locked for a brief moment, but no words passed between the two. It was not her concern why Haotian was present, so she left.
After Yaochi left Supreme Purity Heaven, Haotian cupped his fist and bowed. "Great Emperor Greenflower wishes for an audience with Your Eminence!"
Silence reigned, but Haotian kept his position. The sun above sunk, and the moon rose, yet he never even moved a nanometer. Finally, Tongtian's voice echoed from within the palace.
"Enter."
Haotian bowed deeper. "Thank Your Eminence for this Audience."
Upon entering, Haotian saw Tongtian sitting indolently on the Throne of Heaven with half-lidded eyes as if she had just awoken from a nap. "What urgent matter is it that you need to see Us?"
He cupped his hand and bowed. "Answering Your Eminence. I wish to request authorization to participate in the war against the Tengri Chaos World."
Tongtian's eyes fully opened. "You realize that you will not receive any assistance from the celestial army unless Great Emperor Curved Array agrees to deploy the legions, right?"
"Yes." Haotian's voice was firm without any hesitation like he had already prepared himself.
"As long as you are aware of the risk, We shall grant you authorization to participate in the war," Tongtian said.
"Haotian thanks Your Eminence!"
Tongtian waved her hand. "If you have no other business, you can leave now."
Knowing a dismissal when he saw one, Haotian backed out of the Eminence Heaven Palace. Without delay, he returned to Vast Heaven. Once there, he summoned almost all of his followers to Vast Heaven Palace.
Sitting upon a jade-green throne depicting the sky, Haotian observed his subordinates kneeling below him. Most of the officials under him were at least in the Golden Immortal Realm but only a few Golden Immortals of the Great Unity. There were no Golden Immortals of the Great Firmament among his subordinates.
After seeing the tense state of his subjects, Haotian finally realized why Tongtian had purposely elongated the silence. "You may rise."
"Subject-officials thank Your Majesty!" the officials cried out as they stood up again. They lowered their sight, not daring to gaze upon Haotian directly.
"Summon all the Earth Immortals and Sky Immortals. It's time for the name of Great Emperor Greenflower to resound in the ears of the Tengri aliens."
"Subject-officials obey!"
Like a well-oiled machine, the officials left in an orderly manner. They summoned all of Haotian's private Sky Immortal and Earth Immortal soldiers. Whether on celestial horses, chariots, or by foot, the jade-armored soldiers marched toward the World Nexus.
The denizens of the Three Realms watched in awe as the two hundred thousand strong army marched toward the World Nexus. Haotian had mobilized even faster than Yaochi, awing the world. Even if Yaochi mobilized, it would only be a force of one hundred thousand, and many would think she was sending backup to him.
Haotian's eyes glimmered with ambition. Finally, his name would resound across the Three Realms.