Xie Lian saw how hard he was working, so he requested that the state preceptors make an exception and accept Mu Qing 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 favor. Either way, the crown prince was gone, so he was free. He found a cave on a piece of auspicious land and trained arduously, and not a few years later, he passed a Heavenly Tribulation 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 simply that their positions had switched completely, that’s all.
On this end, Ling Wen said, “He’s very upset.”
“I figured as much,” Xie Lian said.
“I’ll go start another topic of conversation, you’d best take the chance to leave,” Ling Wen suggested.
“Nah, it’s okay,” Xie Lian replied. “It’s fine as long as we pretend nothing’s happened.”
“Are you sure?” Ling Wen said. “I feel awkward just watching you two.”
“It’s not that bad!” Xie Lian replied.
For someone like Xie Lian, everything besides death really was okay; he didn’t have a lot, and certainly not shame. He had done much, much more awkward things, 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 fuck knocked 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, still, each of them held their breaths, waiting soundlessly to hear how Xie Lian was going to answer this accusatory 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 knocked it down? Good. Just you wait.”
Mu Qing replied coolly, “I didn’t say it was me; don’t make false accusations.”
The other said angrily, “Then what are you laughing about? Are you out of your mind?”
“No reason. You just sound funny, that’s all,” Mu Qing said. “The one who knocked 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, the 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 know,” Xie Lian said. “But it seems he doesn’t recognize me.”
“He does,” Ling Wen confirmed. “It’s just that he spends most of his time roaming the Mortal Realm and rarely comes back to the Heavenly Capital. He didn’t know you had ascended again, that’s all.”
Nan Yang-zhenjun was the Martial God of the Southeast. He possessed eight thousand temples and was incredibly loved by the people. His real name was Feng Xin, and eight hundred years ago, he was the number one heavenly general of the Xianle Palace of the Crown Prince.
Feng Xin was loyal to a fault, and he had been Xie Lian’s imperial bodyguard since the crown prince was fourteen years old. He grew up with Xie Lian; they entered the heavens together, were banished together, and drifted together. Unfortunately, they couldn’t endure all eight hundred years together. In the end, it was an unhappy separation as each went their own way, never to meet again.
The master of forgone days, fallen so low as to be the laughingstock of the three realms with neither offerings, temples, nor believers. All the while, the two servants under him had both passed a Heavenly Tribulation and became great martial gods themselves who guarded their own domains.
Under these circumstances, it was impossible for anyone not to think too much. If Xie Lian had to choose between Feng Xin and Mu Qing and say who made him feel more awkward, he would answer “they’re both fine!” But if bystanders had to choose whether they wanted to see Xie Lian brawl with Feng Xin or Mu Qing, then that would depend on the individual’s taste. After all, all three had sufficient reasons to beat each other up, so it would be a hard pick.
Which was why everyone was severely disappointed when Feng Xin did not respond for the longest time. He didn’t say a single word, and instead went invisible. And so Xie Lian concluded the scene on his own, beating himself up voluntarily: “I didn’t think things would get this out of hand. It wasn’t intentional, and I do apologize to everyone for having caused trouble.”
Mu Qing replied sarcastically, “Oh, what a coincidence.”
Coincidence. Xie Lian also thought this was quite the coincidence. How did he so coincidentally hit Mu Qing and wreck Feng Xin’s palace? From any bystander’s perspective, this was practically intentional revenge. But the truth was thus: he was just the type who could pick up the single poisoned cup in a thousand cups of wine. It wasn’t like one could do anything about what others thought, so Xie Lian could only reply, “I will do my utmost to compensate everyone for their golden palaces and any other damages. I pray you will all give me a little time.”
It didn’t take any brains to see how obvious it was that Mu Qing wanted to keep making snide remarks, but his golden palace didn’t suffer any damage, and the bell that fell on him was also chopped in two. If he continued to be so overbearing, it’d be unseemly for someone of his status. Thus, he also fell silent and went invisible. When Xie Lian saw that the awful messes themselves were now gone, he quickly fled too.
He was still pondering deeply and seriously on where he could go to get his hands on eight million eight hundred and eighty thousand merits. The next day, Ling Wen invited him to the Palace of Ling Wen.