"Congratulations, Your Highness."
Hearing this, Xie Lian looked up, smiled before speaking, and said, "Thank you. But may I ask what you're congratulating me for?"
True Lord Lingwen stood with his hands behind his back and said, "Congratulations on taking first place on this Jiazi year's list of 'Priests Most Hoped to be Demoted to the Mortal World.'"
Xie Lian said, “No matter what, it’s still first place. But since you’re congratulating me, I assume there must be something good going on.”
Ling Wen said: "Yes. If you are ranked first on this list, you can get 100 merits."
Xie Lian immediately said, “Next time, if there’s a list like this, please take me with you.”
Ling Wen said: "Do you know who is the second place?"
Xie Lian thought for a moment and said, "That's too hard to guess. After all, if we're talking about strength, I should be able to take the top three spots."
Ling Wen said, "Almost there. There is no second place. You are so far ahead that no one can catch up."
Xie Lian said, “I truly don’t deserve this. Then who was the number one in the last sixty years?”
Ling Wen said, "No. Because this list was only established this year, or to be more precise, today."
“Huh,” Xie Lian was startled, and said, “So, this isn’t a list set up just for me, is it?”
Ling Wen said: "You can also think that you just happened to win the championship because you happened to catch up."
Xie Lian smiled and said, "Okay, if you think about it this way, I'll be happier."
Lingwen continued: "Do you know why you won the championship?"
Xie Lian said, “It’s what everyone wants.”
Lingwen said, "Let me tell you why. Please look at that clock."
She raised her finger, and Xie Lian looked back. What he saw was extremely beautiful: a white jade palace, pavilions, towers, fairy clouds, flowing springs, and flying birds.
But he looked at it for a long time and asked, "Are you pointing in the wrong direction? Where is the clock?"
Lingwen said, "You're not wrong. It's right there. Do you see it?"
Xie Lian looked again carefully and said truthfully, “I didn’t see it.”
Ling Wen said, "That's right, you didn't see it. There was a clock there originally, but it was knocked off when you ascended."
“…”
"That bell is older than you, but it's lively and boisterous. Whenever someone ascends, it chimes a few times in support. The day you ascended, it rang like crazy, unable to stop. It finally fell from the bell tower, and only then did it stop. It even struck a passing priest."
Xie Lian asked, “Is this… is it okay now?”
Lingwen: "Not yet, still repairing."
Xie Lian: “I’m talking about the priest who was hit.”
Ling Wen said, "The one who hit was a martial god. He split it in half with his backhand. Now, please look at that golden palace over there. Do you see it?"
She pointed again, and Xie Lian looked again. He saw the dazzling glazed golden roof amidst the misty clouds and said, “Ah, I see it this time.”
Lingwen said: "It's wrong to see it. There was nothing there in the first place."
“…”
"When you ascended, you shook the golden palaces of many priests, causing the golden pillars to fall and the glazed tiles to shatter. Some of them couldn't be repaired in a short time, so they had to temporarily build a few new ones."
"Is the responsibility mine?"
"The responsibility is on you."
“Hmm…” Xie Lian checked, “Did I offend a lot of priests right after I arrived?”
Lingwen said: "If you can save it, maybe not."
"Then how can I redeem myself?"
"No problem. Eight million eight hundred and eighty thousand merits."
Xie Lian smiled again.
Ling Wen said: "Of course, I know you can't even afford one tenth."
Xie Lian said frankly, “How should I put it? Although I’m sorry, I can’t give you even one ten-thousandth of it.”
The faith of mortal believers is transformed into the magic power of priests, and every bit of incense and offering they make is called "merit".
After laughing, Xie Lian asked seriously, "Would you be willing to kick me out of here right now and give me 8.88 million merits?"
Ling Wen said, "I am a literary god. If you want someone to kick you, you should find a martial god. The harder the kick, the more you will get."
With a long sigh, Xie Lian said, "Let me think about what to do."
Lingwen patted his shoulder and said, "Don't panic, there will always be a way out when you reach the mountain."
Xie Lian said, “I am. When the time comes, the boat will sink.”
If it were eight hundred years ago, during the heyday of Xianle Palace, 8.88 million merits would have been no problem. His Royal Highness would have just handed it over without blinking an eye. But times have changed. His palaces and temples in the mortal world have long since burned to the ground. There are no believers, no incense, no offerings.
Needless to say, there is nothing, nothing, nothing at all!
A man squatted on the street of Xianjing with a headache for a long time. He suddenly remembered that he had ascended to heaven for almost three days and had not yet entered the spiritual formation of the heavenly court. He had just forgotten to ask what the password was.
The priests of the Upper Heavenly Court had jointly devised a formation that allowed the divine consciousness to instantly communicate with spirits and transmit messages within the formation. After ascending to heaven, one had to enter the formation. However, one needed to know the password so that the divine consciousness could search for the specific spiritual formation. Xie Lian had last entered the formation eight hundred years ago and couldn't remember the password at all. He sent his divine consciousness out to search for a formation that looked similar, and when he saw one, he randomly entered. As soon as he entered the formation, he was thrown to the ground by the roars from all directions:
"Place your bets now! Let's gamble on how long our Crown Prince can hold out this time!!"
"I'll bet for a year!"
"A year is too long. Last time it was only one stick of incense. This time it'll be three days. Three days, three days!"
"Stop it, idiot! Three days are almost up, can't you please?!"
…Xie Lian quietly retreated.
Wrong. This is definitely not it.
The Upper Heavenly Court was filled with high-ranking priests, each one well-known for their busy schedules. Furthermore, as they were all legitimately ascended celestial officials, they were self-assured and generally reserved, often speaking and acting with an air of prestige. It was only during his first ascension that he, in his excessive excitement, summoned every priest in the spiritual communication formation to greet him, introducing himself thoroughly and earnestly.
After he exited, he searched around again and randomly entered another one. This time, Xie Lian felt relieved and thought to himself, "It's so quiet, this is probably it."
At this moment, a voice was heard softly saying, "Your Highness the Crown Prince has returned again?"
The voice sounded pleasant at first, soft and gentle, but a closer listen revealed a cold voice and a cold emotion, making the gentleness seem somewhat malicious.
Xie Lian had originally only wanted to follow the rules and enter the formation, lurking quietly. But now that he had been approached, he couldn't just pretend to be deaf and dumb. Furthermore, he was delighted that a priest in the Upper Heavenly Court was willing to speak to him, the Plague God. So, he quickly replied, "Yes! Hello everyone, I'm back again."
Little did he know that after this question and answer, all the priests who were currently in the spiritual communication formation pricked up their ears.
The priest said slowly, "His Royal Highness's ascension this time is truly a grand event."
In the heavenly court, there are emperors and generals everywhere, and heroes are like flowing water.
To become an immortal or god, one must first become a great man. Those who have made great achievements in the mortal realm or possess great talent inherently have a greater chance of ascending. Therefore, it's no exaggeration to say that kings, princesses, princes, and generals are not uncommon here. Who isn't a child of destiny? Everyone is polite to one another, calling them "Your Majesty," "General," "Gang Leader," and "Alliance Leader," offering all sorts of flattering terms. But after these two sentences from this priest, something seemed off.
Although he kept calling them "Your Highness the Crown Prince" on his left and right, he didn't seem to have any respect for them; instead, it felt like he was stabbing them with needles. Several other priests within the spiritual communication formation were also genuine "Your Highness the Crown Prince," and they were all made to feel creepy and uncomfortable by his repeated calls. Xie Lian could already tell his opponent's ill intentions, but he didn't want to compete. He thought to himself, "I'll run," and smiled, "Not bad." But the priest didn't give him a chance to run, saying indifferently, "Your Highness, it's not bad. But my luck is worse."
Suddenly, Xie Lian heard a secret message coming from Ling Wen.
She said only one word: "Clock."
Xie Lian understood instantly.
It turns out that this is the God of War who was hit by the bell!
If that's the case, then it's not without reason that they're angry. Xie Lian was always very good at apologizing, and he immediately said, "I heard about what happened with Zhong. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."
The other party snorted, and it was hard to tell what he meant.
There were many renowned Martial Gods in the Celestial Realm, many of whom were upstarts who had ascended after Xie Lian. Xie Lian couldn't tell who this person was, judging by the voice alone. But he couldn't apologize without knowing their name, so he pressed the issue, "Excuse me, what is your name?"
After these words were spoken, the other side fell silent.
Not only did the other side fall silent, the entire spiritual formation seemed to freeze, and a breath of death was overwhelming.
Ling Wen sent him another voice message: "Your Highness, although I don't think you would have recognized him after talking for so long, I still want to remind you. That is Xuan Zhen."
Xie Lian asked, “Xuan Zhen?”
He paused for a moment before reacting and replied in a slightly shocked tone, "Is this Mu Qing?"
General Xuanzhen is the God of War who sits in the southwest. He owns seven thousand palaces and temples and is very famous in the world.
This General Xuanzhen, whose real name was Mu Qing, was a deputy general serving under the Crown Prince in Xianle Palace eight hundred years ago.
Lingwen was also shocked: "You really didn't recognize him, did you?"
Xie Lian said, "I really didn't recognize him. He didn't speak to me like this before. And I can't remember the last time I saw him. It must have been five or six hundred years. I can barely even remember what he looked like, so how could I possibly recognize his voice?"
The spiritual formation remained silent. Mu Qing remained silent. The other priests pretended not to listen, frantically waiting for one of them to speak up.
Speaking of these two, it is rather awkward. The twists and turns of the story have been passed down for so many years, and everyone already knows most of it. Back then, Xie Lian was the prince of Xianle, and he practiced in Huangji Temple. Huangji Temple is the royal temple of Xianle Kingdom, and the standard for selecting disciples is very strict. Mu Qing was born in a poor family, and his father was a beheaded criminal. Such a person was not qualified to enter Huangji Temple, so he could only work as a handyman, cleaning the Taoist room and serving tea and water for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Xie Lian saw that he worked hard, so he asked the national teacher to make an exception and accept him as a disciple. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said so, and Mu Qing was able to enter the temple to practice and practice with the Crown Prince. After ascending to heaven, Xie Lian also appointed him as a general and took him to Xianjing together.
However, after Xianle destroyed his kingdom and Xie Lian was banished to the mortal realm, Mu Qing did not follow him. Not only did he not follow, he never even spoke a word on his behalf. With the Crown Prince gone, Mu Qing was free. He found a blessed cave and diligently cultivated himself there. Within a few years, he overcame his tribulation and ascended to heaven.
In the beginning, one was in heaven and the other was on earth. Now, they are still in heaven and the other is on earth, but their situations have been completely reversed.
On this side, Ling Wen said: "He is very angry."
Xie Lian said, “I guess so.”
Lingwen said, "I'm going to talk about something else. You should take this opportunity to leave."
Xie Lian said, “That’s not necessary. Just pretend nothing happened.”
Ling Wen said: "No need? I feel embarrassed looking at you all."
Xie Lian said, “It’s fine!”
Xie Lian was a man who could do anything except die; he had nothing much, but he'd certainly lose face. He'd done things infinitely more embarrassing than this, and yet he'd honestly thought it was okay. But he knew nothing could be agreed upon. As soon as he said "it's okay," a voice roared, "Who the hell demolished my Golden Palace?! Get out!!!"
This roar made the scalps of the immortals and gods in the formation explode.
Although their stomachs were already churning with rage, they all held their breath, silently waiting to hear Xie Lian's response to this scolding. Unexpectedly, there was no end to the excitement, only more excitement. Before Xie Lian could even open his mouth, Mu Qing spoke first.
He just laughed twice: "Haha."
The man said coldly, "You dismantled it? Fine, wait."
Mu Qing said calmly, "I didn't say it was me, don't spit blood at me."
The other party said: "Then why are you laughing? Are you sick?"
Mu Qing said, "It's nothing, what you said is just funny. The person who demolished your golden palace is now in the spiritual communication array, you can ask him yourself."
Things had come to this point, and Xie Lian felt too embarrassed to just run away.
He coughed dryly and said, "It's me. I'm sorry."
As soon as he spoke, the person who came later also fell silent.
Ling Wen's voice came to his ears again: "Your Highness, that is Nanyang."
Xie Lian said, “I recognized this. But he didn’t seem to recognize me.”
Ling Wen said, "No. He just wandered around the mortal world more often and returned to the Immortal Capital less often. He didn't know you had ascended again."
Nanyang Zhenjun is the martial god who sits in the southeast. He owns nearly 8,000 palaces and temples and is deeply loved by the common people.
His real name was Feng Xin. Eight hundred years ago, he was the number one general under the Prince of Xianle Palace.
Feng Xin was a loyal man. He had been Xie Lian's bodyguard since he was fourteen. He grew up with the Crown Prince, ascended to heaven together, was demoted together, and exiled together. Unfortunately, they didn't survive those eight hundred years together. In the end, they parted ways on bad terms, never to see each other again.
The author has something to say: If you are concerned about the amount of Xie Lian's debt, please refer to this not very rigorous currency conversion formula: 1 merit ≈ 18 RMB
This is completely fabricated. It doesn't follow any established xianxia or immortal-heroic settings. It's not a xinxing-style novel, nor is it about the underworld of xianxia. There's no cultivation process involved, and whether or not one ascends to heaven is entirely up to the author.
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