Chapter 294 The Struggle for Sovereignty (Part 1)

"Your Majesty, what is troubling you?"

Inside the Jade Pool, the Queen Mother looked at the Jade Emperor with concern, who was frowning. "Nowadays, the Heavenly Court is full of talented people. If there is anything that is difficult to handle, Your Majesty may summon the immortals."

“It’s not a matter of Heaven,” the Jade Emperor shook his head, and under the Queen Mother’s puzzled gaze, asked, “Have you noticed that the amount of incense offerings in the mortal realm has decreased recently?”

The Queen Mother was taken aback. As one of the rulers of the Heavenly Court, she did not rely on incense offerings to sustain herself. In addition, she was not as well-known or as popular as the Jade Emperor in the mortal world. The amount of incense offerings she received was even less than that of some local deities, so she had never paid attention to it before.

However, since the Jade Emperor had said so, the Queen Mother carefully considered it.

"hiss……"

She opened her eyes in surprise and doubt, "There is indeed a lot less."

"Right?"

The Jade Emperor sighed. Although he was the ruler of the Three Realms and not a minor local deity who needed to rely on incense offerings to sustain himself, incense offerings were a symbol of the recognition and respect that all living beings had for his position as the ruler of the Three Realms. He couldn't help but feel a little worried.

Thinking of this, the Jade Emperor beckoned to the Curtain-Lifter beside him: "Curtain-Lifter, I have noticed recently that the incense offerings in the mortal realm are sparse. Do you know if there has been another war breaking out in the human world recently?"

The curtain-roller hurriedly and respectfully replied, "Your Majesty, the Zhou Dynasty has been established, and the world is now thriving. The wars have ended."

The Jade Emperor nodded slightly, pondering to himself, "The Investiture of the Gods has only just ended, and the mortal world should be at peace. So why is the incense offerings decreasing?"

The Queen Mother parted her lips slightly and said, "Your Majesty, why don't we send the Curtain-Raising Clan to the mortal realm to investigate thoroughly and find out the reason?"

The Jade Emperor pondered for a moment, then nodded in agreement without much thought.

He accepted the order and immediately descended to the mortal realm. Being an honest and straightforward person, he returned from the human world in no time.

The official in charge of the curtain reported, "Your Majesty, King Wu issued an edict instructing the people to 'respect the spirits but keep them at a distance,' urging them to rely on their own labor for a living rather than praying to the gods. Now, temples in various places are subject to many restrictions, and some have even been demolished. Even the custom of human sacrifice and the frequent timing of sacrificial ceremonies have been abolished."

Upon hearing this, the Jade Emperor's face gradually turned ashen. Seeing this, the Curtain-Lifter hurriedly tried to salvage the situation: "Your Majesty, although daily sacrifices to the gods have decreased, the people still devoutly worship during important festivals, and the ceremonies are quite formal."

The Jade Emperor was furious. What he valued were not the ceremonies, the number of times, or the tributes—those superficial things. What he valued was the respect the mortals had for him, their faith in him as the ruler of heaven and earth, his unshakeable status and position, and his dominance over the mortal realm!

"Outrageous! King Wu is so disrespectful and ungrateful. If it weren't for the help of the immortals of my Heavenly Court, how could he have ascended the throne!"

Curtain Roller couldn't help but interject, "Your Majesty, when you helped him, many of those who helped him were not yet immortals..."

Before he could finish speaking, the Queen Mother glared at him fiercely and said coldly, "Shut up!"

Rolling up the curtain quickly cast a spell to seal his mouth; he was used to doing this.

Then, the Queen Mother turned to look at the Jade Emperor gently and softly comforted him: "Your Majesty, please do not be anxious. It is inevitable that a mortal who has just ascended to a high position will not recognize his own limitations for a while. In my opinion, it would be better to send the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King to give him some advice, so that Ji Fa will know to be respectful."

After pondering for a moment, the Jade Emperor thought the plan was feasible and nodded in agreement.

"Li Jing, I hereby order you to descend to the mortal realm immediately and admonish King Wu Ji Fa, so that he may realize his mistake and return to the right path, and understand the importance of respecting the Heavenly Court and not acting recklessly."

After learning what had happened, Li Jing hesitated to speak. How to put it, he felt that Ji Fa didn't seem to have any problem.

Seeing the Jade Emperor's ashen face, Li Jing ultimately said nothing more and accepted the order to descend to the mortal realm.

Before long, Li Jing arrived at the Zhou King's Palace and saw Ji Fa sitting at his desk in the main hall, intently reviewing memorials with a focused and serious expression. Li Jing used a little magic to reveal his true form.

Upon seeing this, Ji Fa smiled, dismissed the servants in the hall, and rose to greet Li Jing: "King Li, it's been a long time. How have you been?"

“A day in heaven is a year on earth. Indeed, it has been many years since I last saw Your Majesty,” Li Jing couldn’t help but sigh. Looking at Ji Fa, who had become more mature and more majestic, he continued, “The Three Realms are now peaceful and stable, so I have nothing to do. But Your Majesty, you look haggard and must be very tired.”

Ji Fa smiled gently and said, "Peace and stability in the Three Realms is a blessing for all people. Although I am just a mortal, I bear the responsibility for the livelihood and well-being of all people and dare not slack off in the slightest."

Looking at the monarch before him who cared for the world, Li Jing couldn't help but feel a mix of emotions.

Before Li Jing could speak, Ji Fa asked directly, "What brings the Heavenly King here today?"

Li Jing remained silent for a moment, knowing he could not avoid the issue, and could only convey the Jade Emperor's message truthfully: "King Wu, His Majesty the Jade Emperor believes that many of the measures you have implemented are inappropriate. He hopes that you can change your policies, respect the Heavenly Court, and restore the worship and veneration of the gods."

Upon hearing this, Ji Fa chuckled and said, "I am afraid I cannot comply. Mortals and immortals are completely different. A mortal's life is only a short hundred years. If one places all one's hopes on immortals, how can one live a wonderful and unique life as a mortal?"

Seeing that Li Jing remained silent, Ji Fa continued, "More importantly, most mortals do not possess magic like immortals. From birth, they have to fight against illness, natural disasters, and struggle against heaven and earth. In order to make life better, we can only do our best and must never give up even the slightest bit of initiative."

"Mortals don't have the same powerful resources as immortals, so they can only rely on themselves. Relying on immortals is ultimately not as reliable as relying on one's own hands. Heavenly King Li, you were once a mortal too, so you must understand this deeply, right?"

Upon hearing Ji Fa's heartfelt words, Li Jing fell into a deep silence. He was indeed a mortal who had become a god, and naturally knew the hardships and difficulties of ordinary people.

However, now that he is a celestial general, he also knows that the Jade Emperor is high above and his authority is not to be defied.

After a long silence, Li Jing slowly spoke: "I can understand Your Majesty's thoughts, and I will try to plead with His Majesty the Jade Emperor. However, His Majesty the Jade Emperor's mind is not easily changed, so please be prepared to deal with it."

Upon hearing this, Ji Fa was filled with gratitude and bowed solemnly to Li Jing. Seeing this, Li Jing quickly reached out to help Ji Fa up and said, "Your Majesty is the ruler responsible for the world. My actions are not for your personal sake, but for the sake of all the people."

...

"Nezha, big news... Oh, the Third Holy Mother is here too? Where are you all?"

"Marshal Tianpeng".

Yang Chan smiled and greeted Tianpeng in the water mirror, "Nezha and my second brother have both come to Mount Hua."

"Oh, so you're not inviting me to your party?"

Tianpeng started yelling, but Nezha interrupted him: "What are you doing? Hang up if you have nothing else to say."

"Wait! Something really big has happened!" Tianpeng glared at him. "How come you're still so impatient even as you get older? You're just as quick-tempered as the Golden Crow."

"I'm hanging up..."

"Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King!" Tianpeng hurriedly spoke up, and Nezha stopped putting away the water mirror. "Do you want to hear some gossip about the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King?"

"explain!"

"His Majesty doesn't know what he sent Li Jing to do in the mortal realm, but Li Jing's return to report angered the Jade Emperor, and he was imprisoned."

"real?"

Yang Chan asked in surprise.

Nezha also had some doubts: "Isn't Li Jing a staunch supporter of the Jade Emperor? How could he possibly offend the Jade Emperor?"

Although he looked down on Li Jing, Li Jing was one of the few truly loyal people to the Jade Emperor in the corrupt Heavenly Court. Was the Jade Emperor tired of his job and wanted to retire early? Did he not even want his loyal followers anymore?

"Who knows? My information is definitely accurate. As for why, whether it's due to poor performance or offending the Jade Emperor, I can't find out."

"Okay, got it."

"That's it? No thoughts?"

Nezha snorted coldly: "What do I care about Li Jing's ideas? I'm hanging up!"

"Why!"

Before Tianpeng could finish speaking, Shuijing disappeared.

When it came to Li Jing, Yang Chan considerately refrained from asking further questions, but instead looked at Nezha with considerable curiosity, "When did you and Marshal Tianpeng become so close?"

They were close friends who shared gossip! Knowing Tianpeng's loose tongue, Nezha made a point of befriending him.

But he was too embarrassed to admit that he was doing this kind of thing just for gossip, so he quickly changed the subject: "Shall we go see how Second Brother's meat is roasting? It's not even as good as Howling Celestial Dog's, is it?"

Sensing that Yang Chan had successfully become a star official, Nezha and Yang Jian came to celebrate for her. Nezha mocked Yang Jian for his lack of comprehension. As punishment, he and his dog, Xiaotianquan, were made to be in charge of grilling meat.

Yang Jian reluctantly agreed.

Therefore, when this was mentioned, Yang Chan couldn't help but laugh: "You, you just know how to make things difficult for Second Brother."

Seeing the dark, grilled meat and the enthusiastic Yang Jian, Nezha's eyebrows twitched: "Is this making things difficult for him? This is making things difficult for me!"