Chapter 461: Chapter 87: Denouncing the Celestial Emperor and the Enraged Haotian
"Denounce... the Celestial Emperor??"
Cui Yin, who had been swaggering with pride just a moment ago, suddenly shrank back, his gaze toward his Emperor filled with terror.
’Have you gone mad?!’
He wasn’t the only one. The assembled immortals in the hall all exchanged looks of dismay. Even the expression of Taiyi Celestial Monarch, a member of the Primordial’s Direct Lineage, changed drastically!
This...
The Celestial Emperor wasn’t like the various other celestial rulers and sovereigns. He was a supreme existence beyond the Daluo realm!
"Li Celestial King, will you bind yourself, or must I act personally?"
Lu Xuan asked calmly. Sweat poured down Li Jing’s forehead. He felt like killing Giant Spirit God, but he didn’t dare hesitate. He immediately gritted his teeth.
"This lowly immortal is willing to accept the Emperor’s judgment!"
With a single thought, Immortal Golden Locks materialized from the void, binding the three trembling Grand Grade immortals and Giant Spirit God. Then, he bound himself and knelt on the ground.
Lu Xuan nodded slightly, then glanced sideways at a white-haired, white-bearded old man holding a duster, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"And you are?"
He felt a strong sense of threat from this old man. He was definitely a titan on the level of the Celestial Realms—one of the old guard, at that!
With a grave expression, Taiyi Celestial Monarch cupped his hands in a salute.
"Taiyi of Jade Void Palace. I greet the Master of Profound Yellow Palace."
He addressed him as Palace Master rather than Emperor because the rank of a First Grade Emperor of the Celestial Court was not enough to warrant such a formal salute from a revered Jade Void Immortal like himself. The title of Master of Biyou Palace, however, was more than sufficient.
Lu Xuan’s expression flickered.
"So, it is Senior Brother Taiyi."
He put on a cold sneer, knowing that the Nine Nether Dao Fruit was likely watching. He adopted an aloof tone.
"When the disciples of my Shangqing Lineage were tragically killed back then, Senior Brother Taiyi certainly played a part."
Taiyi Celestial Monarch’s eyes narrowed.
"No one wanted what happened back then. It was an accident."
Li Jing was fine, as he already knew about this, but sweat streamed endlessly down Giant Spirit God’s forehead. ’Shangqing Lineage... a second-generation disciple... and from the Direct Lineage...’
"Perhaps."
Lu Xuan remained noncommittal. Maintaining his cold demeanor, he shot a glance at Taiyi Celestial Monarch and snorted. With a mere thought, he seized Li Jing and the other immortals and strode out of the hall.
Just before he left, he decided to make his act more convincing and threw one last sentence over his shoulder.
"Taiyi, tell Guangcheng Zi not to let me find him. Or else... Hmph!"
As he spoke, Lu Xuan silently apologized to Senior Brother Guangcheng in his heart. Grasping Li Jing and the others, he led a stunned Cui Yin out of the hall.
After Lu Xuan departed, Taiyi Celestial Monarch’s expression turned grim. With a single thought, his form dissipated, reappearing in the very same instant on Kongtong Divine Mountain.
"Senior Brother Guangcheng!"
Striding into Guangcheng Palace, Taiyi paused, slightly taken aback.
"And this is?"
Inside the Daoist Palace, Guangcheng Zi was sitting across from a Daoist who was completely shrouded in Chaos Qi, cut off from all fate and change.
Guangcheng Zi glanced over, surprised.
"Junior Brother Taiyi? Why have you come? ...This is a Fellow Daoist who will be succeeding me as the Master of Guangcheng Palace."
"A Fellow Daoist? The Master of Guangcheng Palace?"
Taiyi Celestial Monarch found this unbelievable. He stared at the Daoist shrouded in Chaos, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke directly.
"Senior Brother Guangcheng, something has happened."
After a pause, he said gravely, "I encountered the new Master of Biyou Palace—that Profound Yellow Emperor. It seems he intends to make trouble for the Jade Void Lineage over the events of the late Shang Dynasty."
"Oh?"
Guangcheng Zi raised an eyebrow.
"Interesting... Profound Yellow, you say? I was just preparing to visit the Human World to find Junior Brother Profound Clarity. It will be the perfect opportunity to meet this Profound Yellow."
Taiyi Celestial Monarch nodded and added, "That Profound Yellow is very strange. When I encountered him in the Celestial Court, he was proclaiming his intent to go to Lingxiao Hall to denounce the Celestial Emperor... Has he gone mad?"
"Denounce the Celestial Emperor?"
Guangcheng Zi was taken aback once more, unsure whether to laugh or cry.
"Perhaps he really has gone mad... I have some matters to discuss with this Fellow Daoist, so Taiyi, if you would..."
Taiyi Celestial Monarch nodded decisively, cupped his hands, and withdrew.
Once he was gone, Guangcheng Zi glanced aside, his expression growing solemn.
"Fellow Daoist, I leave Guangcheng Palace in your hands... By the way."
A Jade Box appeared in his hand. He passed it to the Daoist and said,
"According to our master’s instructions, this box must be opened in one hundred and seventy thousand years. The members of Guangcheng Palace are to act according to the edict contained within."
"So be it."
The Daoist gave a faint nod, accepted the Jade Box, and glanced out at the vast world beyond the Daoist Palace. He spoke softly,
"Fellow Daoist Guangcheng, the heavens are about to change."
"Change?" Guangcheng Zi’s eyes narrowed. "May I ask, Fellow Daoist, what kind of change?"
The Daoist shook his head, then sighed softly.
"I see mortals attacking the heavens and immortals falling like rain. I see the collapse of the Qin Dynasty, Biyou Palace plunging into the Nine Nether, the death of the Profound Yellow Emperor, and the fall of a Dao Fruit."
Guangcheng Zi’s expression changed drastically. He stared at the Daoist.
"Surely, you are joking, Fellow Daoist."
"I am not." The Daoist extended a hand, and Chaos Qi swirled around it.
He pointed to his eyes and spoke with exhaustion in his voice.
"All this, I have seen with my own eyes."
"Everything in the past, everything in the future. From the highest Dao Fruit down to the lowliest mayfly."
"It is all as clear as day."
Guangcheng Zi swayed, finding the Daoist before him more inscrutable than ever.
After a long silence, he asked,
"Who exactly are you?"
"Don’t you already know, Fellow Daoist Guangcheng?"
The Daoist let out a sigh.
"I am Qing Xuan."
...
「The Celestial Court. Milo Celestial Palace, Lingxiao Palace.」
The Immortal Ministers were assembled in the hall, all paying their respects.
"Reporting to Your Majesty..."
An Immortal Official stepped forward and said respectfully,
"The Thunder Division requests to establish itself as the Thunder Department Celestial Palace. Your Majesty, this minister believes this is an act of gross presumption and should be..."
"Approved," the Emperor Corpse said slowly.
The Immortal Ministers’ expressions froze. The crowd of immortals exchanged bewildered glances.
’Well, well, well. He hasn’t managed a single affair in thousands of years, yet he approves this so quickly?’
They were all stunned. They looked toward the Immortal Mother, who sat behind a hanging screen. She frowned and said,
"Haotian, this cannot be approved. It should be—"
