At the Northern Heavenly Gate of the Immortal Realm, a chaotic battle was raging fiercely!
On one side were Jiang Yuan, Wen Ding Cang Sheng, Ding Ye, and a group of players who had just ascended to the Immortal Realm. On the other side were the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals of the Northern Camp, led by Nezha, the Grand Commander of the Immortal Realm’s Sea, Land, and Air Forces, also known as the Third Prince of the Altar of the Seas!
Following Jiang Yuan’s hint, the players exercised restraint, only reducing the Heavenly Soldiers to critical health without taking their lives.
Just then, Li Jing, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, who had been alerted by the Jade Spirit Officer, arrived at the Northern Heavenly Gate with the Immortal Realm’s Imperial Guard.
"Stop this at once!"
Li Jing’s thunderous roar carried immense authority, and both sides immediately halted, turning to look at him.
"Father, why have you come?"
Li Jing, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, served as the Jade Emperor’s garrison commander, and his troops were the Imperial Guard directly under the Jade Emperor’s command. Nezha, seeing his father arrive, brightened and asked.
"By His Majesty’s order, these people are to be taken to the Lingxiao Palace for His Majesty’s personal interrogation!"
Li Jing, clad in armor, wearing a golden-winged black crown, holding a pagoda in his left hand and a trident in his right, his square face exuding danger, glanced at Nezha and declared in a voice as resonant as a great bell, making Jiang Yuan and the others’ ears ring.
"Drop your weapons at once and follow me to the Lingxiao Palace to await the Jade Emperor’s judgment!"
Seeing Wen Ding Cang Sheng and the others still in a fighting stance, Li Jing frowned and barked.
"Brother Cang Sheng, let’s go to the Lingxiao Palace."
Jiang Yuan said to Wen Ding Cang Sheng and the others, who then sheathed their weapons and stood behind him.
Seeing that Jiang Yuan and his group no longer resisted, Li Jing dispatched a squad of Imperial Guards to escort them toward the Lingxiao Palace.
Before long, Jiang Yuan and the others were led by the Immortal Realm’s Imperial Guard into the legendary Lingxiao Palace. Jiang Yuan was utterly awestruck by its magnificent splendor.
Golden light radiated in a thousand beams, mingling with red clouds; auspicious vapors surged in countless streams, tinged with purple mist. On both sides stood dozens of Heaven-subduing Marshals, each leaning against pillars, holding halberds and banners; below were a dozen golden-armored deities, each wielding halberds, whips, swords, and spears.
Inside the hall were several massive pillars, entwined with golden-scaled, sun-dazzling red-bearded dragons; there were also long bridges, over which circled colorful-feathered, sky-soaring red-crowned cranes.
Golden nails studded jade windows; colorful phoenixes danced on vermilion gates. Winding corridors and galleries were exquisitely translucent everywhere; triple eaves and quadruple clusters were layered with dragons and phoenixes soaring. Above hung a majestic, gleaming, round, and radiant large golden gourd roof; below, celestial maidens held fans, and jade girls offered immortal scarves. Fierce-looking Heavenly Generals presided over the court, and spirited Immortal Officials guarded the throne.
The Jade Emperor wore a nine-patterned ceremonial robe and a twelve-row pearl crown. His face was fair, his eyes bright and piercing, his brows thick and commanding, with a goatee beneath his chin.
"Your subjects pay homage to Your Majesty! Long live Your Majesty, ten thousand years!"
Li Jing, Nezha, and the Jade Spirit Officer knelt before the Jade Emperor, kowtowing three times and shouting "Long live!" while Jiang Yuan and the other players, raised on materialist education, remained standing, coldly watching Li Jing and the others pay their respects.
"How dare you! Why do you not kneel before the Jade Emperor?"
Seeing this, the Seal-Bearing Immortal Official beside the Jade Emperor glared and screeched at Jiang Yuan and the others.
"I’ll kneel to your grandmother’s leg!"
Jiang Yuan shot a disdainful glance at the pale, beardless official and said flatly.
In his life, Jiang Yuan bowed to neither heaven nor earth, neither gods nor ghosts—only to his parents who had raised him with toil and hardship! No matter how realistic this so-called fully immersive virtual game *All Realms* claimed to be, it would never change Jiang Yuan’s principles!
"You, you, you—how dare you!"
The official, shocked by Jiang Yuan’s insolence, pointed a delicate finger at him, then turned to the Jade Emperor, bowing: "Your Majesty, these rogue immortals from the lower realm are arrogant and disrespectful to Your Majesty. They deserve severe punishment!"
"Old man Jade Emperor, listen up! We’ve been raised on nine years of compulsory education and don’t believe in gods or ghosts. We only believe in one saying: ‘Practice is the sole criterion for testing truth’! From elementary school, we’ve aspired to be builders and successors of the socialist cause!"
Just as the eunuch official finished speaking and before the Jade Emperor could respond, Jiang Yuan suddenly pointed at him and delivered a righteous speech, every word striking like a bell, each sentence a thunderclap!
"Boom!"
As Jiang Yuan finished, a tremor echoed from the endless sky above the Lingxiao Palace. A faint, ethereal voice, like celestial music descending from the Ninth Heaven, reached the ears of all the immortals, including the Jade Emperor.
"Heavens! Did I hear that right? It actually triggered a resonance with the Heavenly Dao!"
The anomaly from the sky shocked the assembled immortals in the Lingxiao Palace. They never imagined that a seemingly insignificant youth’s words could earn the approval of the Heavenly Dao, producing such a resonant sound!
"I haven’t heard the Heavenly Dao resonate in millions of years!"
The Jade Emperor was equally stunned. The Heavenly Dao’s resonance was not something just anyone could invoke—only truths infinitely close to the Great Way could stir it!
"Young man, what is your name?"
The Jade Emperor seemed to have forgotten Jiang Yuan’s disrespect, smiling warmly at him. Such a talent capable of triggering the Heavenly Dao’s resonance was almost unheard of in the Heavenly Court!
"My name is Jiang Yuan, a newly ascended rogue immortal. In the mortal realm, I unexpectedly inherited the legacy of the North Star Lord. But upon arriving at the Ascension Platform, I was extorted by a minor clerk, then unjustly beaten by the Jade Spirit Officer, and finally, even the Third Prince of the Altar of the Seas wanted to kill me without asking any questions. Your Majesty, with such foolish subordinates, the Heavenly Court is not far from decline!"
Jiang Yuan rattled off like a machine gun, blasting Jia Lang, the Jade Spirit Officer, and Nezha all at once!
"Your Majesty, I am wronged!"
"Your Majesty, do not listen to this man’s nonsense! I suspected he was involved in the North Star Lord’s demise and wanted to apprehend him for Your Majesty’s judgment!"
As Jiang Yuan finished, Jia Lang, the Jade Spirit Officer, and Nezha’s faces changed drastically, and they began babbling in their own defense, making the Lingxiao Palace somewhat noisy.
"Enough!"
Seeing the three bickering, the Jade Emperor slammed his hand on the table before him, roaring, which silenced Jia Lang, the Jade Spirit Officer, and Nezha, who trembled in fear.
"Jade Spirit Officer, Nezha—you’ve both served in the Immortal Realm for over a thousand years, yet you’re less insightful than a newly ascended rogue immortal. Have you wasted all those millennia? Even I’m embarrassed for you!"
The Jade Emperor pointed at the two, his face showing a look of frustration.
"Your Majesty’s lesson is well taken. I will remember it!"
The Jade Spirit Officer, ever smooth, quickly followed the Jade Emperor’s lead, while Nezha, still childlike, turned his head away.
"Disobedient son, apologize to His Majesty at once!"
Seeing Nezha’s reaction, Li Jing stepped forward and barked. Only then did Nezha bow to the Jade Emperor and offer a reluctant apology.
"Rogue immortal Jiang Yuan, as to whether you truly are the North Star Lord’s heir, I will summon someone to clarify. How about that?"
After reprimanding the Jade Spirit Officer and Nezha, the Jade Emperor smiled gently at Jiang Yuan and spoke kindly.
"I leave it entirely to Your Majesty!"
Jiang Yuan bowed to the Jade Emperor, nodded, and said, inwardly growing curious.
Who exactly was this person the Jade Emperor mentioned?