Naturally, the whole nation of Xianle rejoiced. However, ever since ancient times there had been one truth the people always spoke of in the human world: there would never be a good outcome when gods descended to the Mortal Realm without permission.
And so, not only were the flames of war not extinguished, they blazed even wilder.
It was not to say that the crown prince did not try, but it would have been better had he not intervened at all. The harder he worked, the more of a mess the war became: the people of Xianle were devastatingly battered and crushed, the wounded and casualties innumerable, and in the end, a plague swept through the entire imperial capital, and the rebel army broke through to the palace and ended the war.
If it was said that Xianle was originally hanging on by a thread, then the crown prince came and cut it directly.
After the kingdom fell, the people finally came to realize one thing: the crown prince they worshipped as a god was never as perfect or strong as they imagined.
To speak harshly, was he not just useless trash who could not do anything right?!
Without anywhere to vent the anguish and pain of losing their homes and families, the battered people furiously poured into the Palaces of the crown prince, toppled his divine statues, and burned down the divine temples.
Eight thousand temples burned for seven days and seven nights, burned until there was nothing left. From that moment on, the martial god who protected peace and safety vanished, and a God of Misfortune who brought disasters was born.
When the people call you a god, you are a god. If they call you crap, you are crap. You are whatever they say you are. It had always been thus.
The crown prince could absolutely not accept this reality, and he had an even harder time accepting the punishment he received for his transgressions: banishment.
His spiritual powers were sealed, and he was knocked back down to the Mortal Realm.
He’d grown up endlessly coddled and pampered. He had never tasted the suffering of the human world before, yet this punishment hurled him from the clouds down into the mud. And in this mud, for the first time, he understood the taste of hunger, poverty, and filth. This was also the first time that he did things he never thought he would do willingly: he stole, he robbed, he cursed loudly, and he gave up on himself. He lost all dignity, no self-esteem remained, and he was as unkempt as one could be. Even his most loyal servants could not accept this change in him and chose to leave.
“Body in the abyss, heart in paradise.” This phrase had been engraved on stone monuments and plaques everywhere in Xianle. If not for the war that had burned almost all of the kingdom to the ground, if the crown prince were to see the remnants of those words, he would probably be the first to rush to destroy what was left.
The person who had said those words had personally proven that when the body was in the abyss, the heart could not be in paradise.
He ascended to the heavens quickly, but his fall from grace was even faster. That awe-inspiring impression at the Grand Avenue of Divine Might, the evil he met at Yinian Bridge; it all seemed as if it were only yesterday, and the Heavenly Realm merely sighed for a while before letting go of what was past.
Until one day, many years later, a huge rumble thundered from the sky. This Royal Highness ascended for the second time.
Throughout history, heavenly officials who were banished either never regained their glory or fell into the Ghost Realm. It was rare to turn over a new leaf after banishment. This second ascension was truly grand and spectacular.
What was even more spectacular was that, after he ascended, he charged all the way into the Heavenly Realm and rampaged in full fury. Thus, he had only been ascended for the span of one incense time before he was knocked back down again.
One incense time. It could be considered the swiftest and shortest ascension in history.
If the first ascension could be considered a beautiful tale, then the second ascension was a farce.
Having been banished twice, the Heavenly Realm looked upon this crown prince with full contempt. And in that contempt, there was caution. After all, he was already threatening and on edge after the first banishment; now that he had been banished twice, would he not go berserk and take his revenge on the world?
Yet who knew? After being banished this time, he did not go berserk and even adjusted earnestly to banished life. There were no issues at all, and the only problem was that…maybe he was taking things a little too seriously?
Sometimes he would busk at the end of the street, expertly playing any instrument and singing any songs, and even shattering boulders on his chest as part of his act. While there had long been word that this Royal Highness could sing and dance and was a master of many talents, it was unbelievable to witness all his talents in such a fashion, truly inspiring complicated feelings in anyone who saw. Sometimes, he would diligently and humbly collect scraps.
The deities were shocked to their cores.
It was unthinkable that things would reach this point, where now, if one was to say “the son you gave birth to is the crown prince of Xianle,” it would be a curse more malicious than “may you die without sons.”
He was once the noble and gracious crown prince, a heavenly official who was part of the divine ranks. But in truth, no one else had ever screwed up so badly. And so, this was the story of the man who was known as the laughingstock of the three realms.
After laughing, those who were more sentimental might also sigh. The darling of the heavens, who once stood at such a height, had truly and thoroughly vanished.
Divine statues collapsed, a native kingdom was destroyed, and not a single believer remained. Gradually, he was forgotten by the world. Thus, no one knew where he had drifted afterward.
It was already a great shame to be banished once. No one would be able to get back up after being banished twice.
✦ ✦ ✦
Many more years passed. Suddenly one day there was another huge rumble in the sky. The heavens fell and the earth cracked, the ground trembled and the mountains shook.
The lanterns of everlasting light shuddered, the firelights danced in fury, and all the heavenly officials inside their golden palaces jolted awake, every one of them running out to ask each other:
“Which new dignitary has ascended?”
“Such a grandiose entrance!”
Yet who knew? They had exclaimed in wonder the first second, but in the next, all the deities of heaven were thunderstruck.
Weren’t you done?!
That infamous weirdo, the laughingstock of the three realms, the legendary Royal Highness the Crown Prince, he…he…he…he fucking ascended again!