The grand ceremony of the Nine Heavens Conferring Order was in dead silence. All the immortals and gods were shocked and could not believe it. Amidst the silence, they saw that the core of the ceremony, the most important Zhenwu, did not appear. The old Lord of Heaven could not believe that the young Taoist priest actually rejected the Heavenly Court's ceremony in this way.

He had clearly gone to the Earth God Ruizhu Palace a month ago.

The Jade Emperor's decree was passed on, and it was indeed handed over to the young Taoist by Hou Tu Niangniang.

But, but, this...

Does this mean refusing to accept it?

In the long time since the establishment of Heaven, this was the first time that someone rejected the Heaven's imperial decree in such a way. The old Heavenly Lord suddenly thought that after he conveyed the Jade Emperor's decree, he did not seem to ask the young Taoist whether he accepted the imperial decree...

Because it's hardly a problem.

From ancient times to now, is there anyone who would refuse the decree of heaven? !

Absolutely not!

What’s more, it’s a title of the Ninth Heaven Level!

I actually refused...

Dazed and dazed, the old man looked up at the clouds. The wind deflected and came down from the sky. Above the mountain peak, there was a sound from the woods. A green leaf fell gracefully and finally landed on the water, causing ripples. A young Taoist in white was sitting cross-legged on a blue stone, using a green bamboo as a fishing rod. He was fishing here. His aura was deep and peaceful, as if in harmony with the world, wonderful beyond words.

"The Nine Days of Seal has already begun, are you really not going to go?"

A gentle voice asked.

Hou Tu Huang Di Ji sat in the pavilion in the mountain, looking at the young Taoist who seemed to have become one with the heaven and earth. The world was still very peaceful. What happened in the Lingxiao Palace of Thirty-three Heavens had no effect on anything in the world. Everything was still calm and natural.

The dropped fishing line caused ripples on the water.

The young Taoist opened his eyes, and the mountains, lakes and seas were reflected in his eyes. He thought for a moment and said in a gentle tone:

"He sealed me off, so why should I go?"

"Even the Queen thinks that if Heaven bestows upon me, I should accept it. Is that a matter of course?"

Hou Tu Huang Di Ji was slightly startled and said with a smile: "Oh?"

"Does Wuhuo have any other ideas?"

The young immortal, whose three flowers had already gathered at the top of his head and whose cultivation level had been completely stabilized in just one month, was silent for a moment and said:

"I am from Jinzhou."

"The matter of Jinzhou is related to Donghua."

"And Donghua is the Great Emperor of Heaven."

"It was not until several years later, when the incident in Zhongzhou broke out, that he was executed. Before that, he was treated as a great emperor who was congratulated by all the immortals and respected by all creatures."

"Your Majesty, you have been forced to abandon heaven and take Gouchen as your chariot."

"Of course I know there are many difficulties or checks and balances, but from what I have seen and known along the way, it is really hard for me to have any good feelings towards the Heavenly Court... I respect what Haotian did in the past, but I don't understand the current Heavenly Court. If I enter the Heavenly Court, I am afraid I will not be able to live in peace and comfort."

"So after thinking it over, I decided not to go."

"The purpose of practicing Taoism is just to be free."

Hou Tu Huang Di Ji held his chin with one hand and asked with great interest:

"That is the title bestowed by the Nine Heavens, the honorable title of Zhenwu."

"How many immortals and gods have spent their entire lives seeking but have not been able to obtain it? Don't you care?"

The young immortal looked at the ripples on the water, concentrating on fishing, shook his head, and replied:

"It's just the name of Zhenwu."

"Without the name Zhenwu, Qi Wuhuo is still Qi Wuhuo."

"I practiced on my own, breathed on my own, ate, drank, and slept on my own. It was no different from the past."

"Without Qi Wuhuo, the two characters Zhenwu are just two jade carvings, which seem to be extremely noble but are actually worthless. I do not seek a noble position in the Heavenly Court. My previous experience in the human world has nothing to do with the Heavenly Court. I also obtained the Yuanshi Zuqi because of the Zhongzhou incident. Apart from this, the Heavenly Court itself has not shown me any favors, but has many enemies."

"He sealed me off, why should I go?"

Qi Wuhuo destroyed the foundation of the Lord of Mount Tai and balanced the South Pole, and he fought desperately to barely stop the catastrophe temporarily.

Several life and death experiences.

The young Taoist said, "The great calamity of the world started from the Heaven Court, from the Imperial Guards that were supposed to be suppressed by the Heaven Court and the Jade Emperor. We mortals fought desperately, but the Heaven Court was high above us. How many human cavalrymen died in this near-death experience, how many heroes of the demon race died, and how many earth gods perished?"

"And where is the Jade Emperor? He has not stopped the Four Imperial Guards, nor has he controlled the catastrophes. The one who stopped the South Pole was the Northern Emperor, the one who stopped the Gouchen was you, the Queen, and the ones who stopped the demons were the human warriors and the gods of the earth. The Jade Emperor only looked down on everything, and when it was over, he wrote a letter, calling it a decree, calling himself a respected god, saying, 'You have worked hard and made great contributions, so come and receive the title.'"

"Why would he think that I would agree?"

"Do you still want me to be grateful and kowtow to express my gratitude?"

Qi Wuhuo looked at the decree beside him. He originally wanted to refuse it, but the old Lord of Heaven seemed too confident, and the Heavenly Court was also too confident. They felt that they had already taken out the most top-level title and the honorific title of the Ninth Heaven level. How could anyone refuse?

Absolutely not!

Qi Wuhuo couldn't even find a place to refuse.

The young Taoist hardly knew what to say.

Hou Tu Huang Di looked at the young Taoist priest, who was always gentle and treated everything like a spring breeze. However, he was not at all concerned about the olive branch extended by the giant creature, and was not frightened by it. He smiled helplessly and said, "You are a stubborn person. Just say that you don't like the Heavenly Court and the Jade Emperor."

"But the Jade Emperor also has his own difficulties."

"The Heavenly Court needs to suppress the immortals and gods."

The young Taoist recalled the many scenes he had seen along the way, shook his head, and said:

"The one who suppressed the immortals and gods was the Northern Emperor."

"What I know about the era when immortals and gods were in order is only from the descriptions in the text. I have no hostility towards the heaven itself. I respect Haotian's great aspirations, but I am not interested in accepting the title of Jade Emperor."

The Queen Mother Hou Tu said: "If you do this, the Jade Emperor's dignity will probably fall."

The young Taoist suddenly fell silent.

He looked at Empress Hou Tu and said seriously:

"Gou Chen was in conflict, and all things were about to die. First there was Donghua, then there was Yin Yao. After that, Your Majesty left Heaven, and then there was the calamity of Emperor Gou Chen. Do you really think that the Jade Emperor still has any dignity now?"

"The order of heaven still exists because the Great Emperor of Beiji Ziwei holds up the sky with one hand."

"Only because the Arctic Exorcist House fought desperately."

"Just because the common people are fighting to the death."

"And now, the catastrophe has just ended, the people are suffering, the bodies of the dead in the battle between humans and earth gods are still warm, and the Heavenly Court is still praising them and conferring titles on immortals and gods? Do you want me to go up and thank them in person?"

"Wuhuo has no interest in playing house games with the Jade Emperor about enfeoffment of immortals and gods!"

"All along the way, I have only respected Haotian and Beidi. If I could see the Jade Emperor, I would have a question."

"The so-called pursuit of the Tao and cultivation, the immortals and gods act arbitrarily."

"The Great Emperor Seeking the Way killed the common people, while the Great Emperor of Purple Star in the North Pole managed to maintain order and killed the Great Emperor and the immortals. As a result, the six realms were still peaceful and the sky was still full of clouds. In the Lingxiao Palace, the immortals performed rituals, the Jade Emperor was majestic, chanted merits, and conferred titles on the immortals, as if nothing had happened. The dead were like dust, and did not damage the sacred majesty of the heavenly court at all."

"If this is the order of Haotian and the Jade Emperor, and if this is his heaven, then -"

The young Taoist stood up, his sleeves rolled up, picked up the fishing rod with one hand, and said slowly:

"The sky is sick."

"Do you know!!!"

…

As soon as the words were spoken, there seemed to be silence everywhere.

The earth gods who were originally guarding here seemed to turn pale and subconsciously wanted to cover their ears.

Qi Wuhuo personally stopped the catastrophe. Even if the Three Pure Ones and the Four Imperial Gods came here, they could not deny this. They could not deny that Qi Wuhuo was qualified to say so, but they were different.

Even though Hou Tu took the earth gods away from heaven, they still respected the Jade Emperor, and no one directly questioned the Jade Emperor's majesty like the young Taoist did.

Looking at the young Taoist priest, Hou Tu Huang Di Ji was silent and sighed.

Seek truth and ask for the Tao, it is rare to find a true Taoist immortal.

But this also means that their gazes will not be intimidated by authority, nor will they become timid because of behemoths like the Heavenly Palace. Qi Wuhuo's Tao heart is steady and firm. He respects Beidi and Haotian, and he cares about the common people. During this period of time, he has been here, performing rituals to comfort the souls of those who died in the battle, staying up all day, carving tombstones, and recording the names of those people one by one.

Then all the people who died in the battle and the list of the gods were sent back to their hometowns and buried in the earth.

Let these souls see their relatives before returning to the underworld to reincarnate.

But the current Jade Emperor is unable to gain even the slightest recognition from Qi Wuhuo.

How could the young Taoist priest agree to the Jade Emperor's conferring a title on such a person?

It’s just that the young Taoist’s personality is similar to Yuqing and Taishang.

Otherwise, if he were as arrogant as Shang Qing, he would just hold his sword and laugh:

"Block me?"

"Is he worthy?!"

The Queen Mother Hou Tu Huang Di Ji stretched out her finger and gently tapped the young Taoist's forehead:

"Okay, okay, don't be angry."

"If you don't want it, then don't want it. As for me, your Majesty, I will abandon Yuhe Tianting, and Wuhuo will not accept the title of Zhenwu."

"We are exactly the same. Now let's go and cook."

The young Taoist nodded and took a look at the flowing brilliant light, the decree that could not be refused. With a sweep of his sleeves, the Emperor of Heaven's decree that countless people were rushing to follow turned into flowing light and fell into the river. The water rolled up and disappeared in the mud and dust. There was no mystery at all.

I believe that all things in the world are lovable and all living beings are respectable.

I observe the order of the Emperor of Heaven.

But a stubborn stone.

…

"Zhenwu, Zhenwu!"

“To be sure!”

"How dare you treat me with such contempt!"

The Nine-Day Conferring Ceremony started with an extremely grand ceremony, but ended with a silent and strange atmosphere. The disappointment of the young Jade Emperor finally turned into a trace of anger and unwillingness. He felt that his dignity as the Jade Emperor was trampled upon. He was a little angry after all, but he still wondered if Zhenwu had other reasons.

After asking the old Lord of Heaven, he confirmed that the decree had indeed been passed on.

So after a few bursts of anger, he picked up the Haotian Mirror.

Maybe Zhenwu is making a breakthrough?

Maybe Zhenwu has some other reasons?

The Haotian Mirror was glowing with light, and the picture that appeared was of a young Taoist priest fishing. So all the excuses that the young Jade Emperor had found for him in his heart were shattered one by one, and waves of anger and rage naturally rose in the heart of the young Emperor of Heaven, and he almost got furious right away.

But he heard the voice of Hou Tu Huang Di Zhi.

After hearing the conversation between the young Taoist and Hou Tu, the anger in the heart of the Emperor of Heaven suddenly froze.

The face that was filled with anger suddenly lost its color.

Until the end, the young Taoist said that the Jade Emperor was majestic, and that the Heavenly Court was majestic. Finally, He looked into the Haotian Mirror. The young Taoist stood up, pointed his finger at the sky, and had a look of someone who had experienced many hardships and witnessed the lives of ordinary people. His voice was calm and peaceful, and he asked:

"The sky is sick."

"Do you know?!!"

It was as if a dagger had pierced directly into the heart and stirred it violently.

Then the young Jade Emperor's face lost all color.

At some point, he put down the Haotian Mirror in his hand, and was stunned for a long time, with the words of the young Taoist in his mind. Of course, he could refute and say that his efforts were to suppress the immortals and gods, but if that was all, could he really be called Haotian? But wasn't what the young Taoist said also the truth?

If it wasn’t the Lord of Mount Tai, the Northern Emperor, or Zhenwu, what would the Heavenly Court be like this time?

The catastrophe has just ended, and people are suffering, yet you are still singing praises and conferring titles on immortals and gods?

Is this something Haotian would do?

The one who suppresses the immortal gods is Beidi.

The young Jade Emperor felt that the young Taoist's words were like daggers stabbing into his heart. He pursed his lips and wanted to say that the young Taoist didn't know the truth, but his clenched hands were powerless to loosen. His mind was shaken for a long time, and he was silent. A voice came from outside, and the old Lord bowed and apologized, saying:

"This matter is all my fault. I will just pass on the decree as I did in the past."

"I never thought that he would refuse. I will explain this to the immortals..."

The young Jade Emperor said in a vague voice: "No, it's not because of you."

"It's because I..."

After a long silence, the Jade Emperor suddenly said, "Sir, I have something to tell you."

"Please call the gentleman and Qinghua."

"ah?"

The old Lord was stunned.

The young Jade Emperor seemed to have made a decision and said:

"I want to go down to the mortal world in person to meet Zhenwu!"

"Go and see if what he said is true!"