The Queen Mother's sigh made clear just how disappointed she was in her old friend.
After all, even if you raise a dog, you'll grow fond of it over time.
Let alone the Jade Emperor, with whom she had ruled the immortals side by side.
Kong Xuan heard this and said, "The religion is fair to everyone. But sometimes, the choices people make disappoint the religion.
Didn't Yang Jian show him kindness?
Actually, no. Once, at Guanjiangkou, the uncle and nephew drank together and talked about Western Lingshan—how free and unrestrained they were.
It's just a pity.
In the end, greed destroyed him.
In my view, there's nothing wrong with the Jade Emperor either. Once my cult destroys the Demon Buddha, I will allow his true spirit to reincarnate.
How about that?"
That was already a generous offer.
If anyone else had resisted the Religion of God—
Destroying both body and spirit would not have been an exaggeration!
The Queen Mother and the Nine Heavens Profound Girl smiled at each other and thanked Kong Xuan.
Well?
How about that?
Looking at the Jade Emperor now, he was as pitiful as a clown.
But because the cult's headquarters was near the Heavenly Court, the Queen Mother had no intention of releasing Yaochi for the time being.
She simply resided in the cult's grounds and practiced meditation.
Early morning.
When the Nine Heavens Profound Girl and she finished their meditation, the two opened their eyes one after another. A powerful force had been born within their bodies.
"So this is the God's teachings! All doctrines flow together—it's truly extraordinary!"
"The divine law is certainly not bad! But before I left, Kong Xuan's words left me a bit at a loss."
As the Queen Mother's closest friend, the Nine Heavens Profound Girl naturally understood her thoughts.
She immediately said with a sly smile, "Are you talking about becoming a goddess? You don't want to serve the gods and spirits?"
"Not at all! It's just…"
"Can't bring yourself to lower your dignity? I heard Guanyin has been serving the gods for a long time."
"I… I don't know how to serve others. I always had a cold temperament, and people were always the ones serving me."
The Queen Mother held back for a long time before finally voicing her concern.
The Nine Heavens Profound Girl couldn't help but laugh.
Eventually, the two of them fell into easy chatter.
This hut belonged to Kong Xuan. It had soundproof formations and magical barriers—
Even Demon Buddha Tathagata could not peer inside.
Setting aside all pretense and enjoying themselves like this—it was something they had not experienced since girlhood, before either of them had become immortals.
Now that the chaos had erupted, her state of mind had changed greatly.
No longer dwelling on scheming.
No longer being manipulated by heaven, no longer thinking for heaven.
After a long while, she lay on the grass, gazing at the blue sky, and sighed: "Tell me—why did I bother with all that at the beginning? At the time, I had no choice but to become the steward of Yaochi.
But I was bound there for tens of thousands of years.
Only now do I understand—those years were like a nightmare. All the freedom and ease left me.
I still prefer days like this—happy and carefree."
The Nine Heavens Profound Girl hummed in agreement: "So you'd regret it later and always make me transform into your appearance to sit in Yaochi— truly hateful…"
The two had an excellent relationship.
Except when the Jade Emperor summoned them occasionally—
For the most part, the Queen Mother stayed in Yaochi.
And whenever the Queen Mother was feeling troubled, she would have the Nine Heavens Profound Girl take her place while she slipped down to the mortal realm for fun.
Now that she was separated from the Heavenly Court, her heart was at complete ease.
---
At this time, outside the headquarters.
Li Jing was leading his troops in formation. His colleagues were all old acquaintances.
"Don't worry, everyone. Register the roster first, then receive the cultivation methods and doctrines. There's no need to rush!"
"I say, Li Jing—do we need to be assessed?"
"Assessed? We're soldiers. We came to the religion, so naturally we're soldiers. The only difference is that we now believe in God.
The Divine Envoy told us to do what we did. After dying in battle, our souls ascend to the divine realm and reincarnate with our memories intact.
Do you think ordinary soldiers need to be assessed?"
Li Jing looked at everyone with contempt and spoke dismissively.
What truly needed testing was the group of Barefoot Immortals who had arrived last night.
From what the envoys said, only a handful of immortals had passed the assessment so far. Those who failed—
All dead.
Even so, none of these immortals dared retreat.
Because they had come to the place where God taught.
There was no going back now.
That Kuimu Wolf Star Lord had been willing to accept God's religion because of his empathy and righteousness—
Instead, he was the first fairy soldier to stand out.
He went directly to the eighteenth hell.
Taibai Venus, serving as judge, watched the Barefoot Immortal being buried in the sea of flames. He raised his head and declared: "The Barefoot Immortal has committed grave sins. He shall be punished through the eighteen hells to repay five thousand years of crime!"
"The Three Immortals of Fu, Lu, and Shou committed no wrongdoing. They shall enter the religion with clean records."
Among the Twenty-Eight Constellations, only ten stars were permitted to join the religion.
The rest—all dead.
Every time Taibai Jinxing opened his mouth, another immortal died.
---
It was already bright outside.
In the Heavenly Court, the Jade Emperor lay frozen on the ground of Lingxiao Hall and was suddenly woken with a start.
"Huh… Where am I? Someone… Someone come!!"
"Damned people!"
The Jade Emperor shook his head and stumbled toward the door.
He had been drinking immortal wine—
An immortal who could get drunk.
In his daze, he stepped on something and tripped, falling hard to the ground.
"What the—Who put things at my feet! You rebellious ministers, all deserve death! You should all end up like Li Jing's twenty-five… Wang Lingguan??
No… Why are you dead!!!"
As the Jade Emperor cursed, his eyes happened to meet Wang Lingguan's gaze.
When he saw the other man's body—
The Jade Emperor's nine-layer golden mask suddenly went cold sober.
He stood up with a start and looked around. The soldiers who should have been guarding the High Heaven Hall were gone.
"This… What exactly happened?"
The Jade Emperor flew up and went to find the Queen Mother.
But after flying for a long time, he could not see even a shadow of Yaochi.
His panic grew with each passing moment.
"Am I dreaming? Or under some illusion?"
The Jade Emperor shook his head and examined his own spiritual sea. He realized this was no dream at all!
But then—where were all the people of heaven?
In desperation, he could only fly elsewhere.
Finally, he arrived at Taishang Laojun's residence.
There, he finally saw a green ox and a boy heating something over a fire.
"Niu'er… Where is your master?"
"Moo… Master has been waiting for you inside for a long time!"
Hearing this, the Jade Emperor was startled and hurried inside.
In the alchemy room—
Taishang Laojun was no longer refining elixirs. He simply sat with closed eyes, meditating.
"Old Master, what happened in these heavens?"
Faced with this old immortal who had always been more reassuring than himself, the Jade Emperor's tone also became respectful.
Taishang Laojun opened his eyes and said, "Do you still need to ask others about the sins you yourself have committed? The people of the Heavenly Court have all turned to God's teachings.
Is greed—is power—really so important to you?"
One sentence.
But the Jade Emperor's face flushed red.
Could he be blamed for all this?
Could he blame those people for not being loyal enough!!!
He was the Lord of the Three Realms—and yet he had been bullied by Tathagata before, and now he was betrayed again…
———
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