Can Xue nodded, a smile blooming on her handsome and refined face.
Immediately, the young man's figure flickered and, like a petal, quietly vanished.
Nine Heavens.
The Heavenly Emperor had suddenly fallen, and his whereabouts were currently unknown. The entire immortal realm of the Nine Heavens was in chaos.
Everyone wanted a piece of the pie regarding the position of Heavenly Emperor.
But there was only one position, and currently, there seemed to be too many contenders, making it not an easy seat to occupy.
Therefore, a group of immortals, revered as High Immortals and High Gods in the Nine Heavens, all gathered here to join the fray.
Yue Zhiyin... was not here voluntarily.
He had been brought here by his two left and right protectors, Qi Yu and Si Qing, who had escorted him by the arms.
"Qi Yu, Si Qing, the position of Heavenly Emperor requires someone with exceptionally high power. I think I..." Yue Zhiyin wanted to say that he felt he was still a bit insufficient.
As if on cue, Qi Yu and Si Qing unleashed their oppressive aura, knocking down a large portion of the contenders.
Yue Zhiyin: "..."
He wore a look of indignation. "But this is your strength, not mine. I can't possibly knock them down."
"How could that be?" Qi Yu said calmly. "King of the Dragon Realm sits on the Heavenly Emperor's throne, and Si Qing and I will be your left and right protectors."
"Indeed, Your Majesty," Si Qing nodded, pushing him forward. "What's ours is yours, and what's yours is still yours. Where else can you find such a good deal?"
Yue Zhiyin's lips twitched. "Then haven't you considered that I still have the dragon clan of the North Sea to manage? Besides, the Heavenly Emperor isn't a position we can just decide on a whim..."
"Senior Disciple Brother, do not overthink," Qi Yu and Si Qing exchanged glances and spread their hands. "Let's not even mention that I have devoured the minor Heavenly Dao. The position of Heavenly Emperor rightfully belongs to the most capable. The previous Heavenly Emperor was some sort of rubbish; he ascended through unorthodox means due to his weak power. What's wrong with us openly seizing power and taking this position?"
"King of the North Sea and current Lord of the Nine Heavens," Qi Nian nodded from the side. "Senior Disciple Brother, I think it's a good idea. This way, you'll have a lot of freedom. You can go to the North Sea whenever you want, or stay in the Nine Heavens. It's perfect."
Yue Zhiyin: "..."
Ming Lou let out a cry, "Senior Disciple Brother, you'll look super handsome as the Heavenly Emperor!"
Chi Ming and Qi Yan nodded in agreement.
Sui You also nodded, unusually concurring, "Exactly, Senior Disciple Brother is the people's choice."
Feng Mingqi pursed his lips. "Senior Disciple Brother, I truly believe you would be excellent as the Heavenly Emperor. Look at it this way, since we all come from the same master, the immortal and demon realms can truly reconcile in the future."
Feng Sixian blinked. "Your Majesty, I think this idea is truly excellent."
Feng Yunzui nodded in agreement. "Among us, there are very few who can sit as Heavenly Emperor. Senior Disciple Brother is capable."
Yu Zhen and Li Yu patted Yue Zhiyin's shoulders. "Zhiyin, stop struggling. Just accept it."
Yue Zhiyin looked utterly disheartened.
The immortals nearby, who were still recovering from the oppressive aura of Qi Yu and Si Qing, were no longer a threat.
Looking at the gleaming golden throne before him, Yue Zhiyin walked towards it with heavy steps, and then... sat down.
Instantly, the Heavenly Palace trembled.
The unique imperial mark of the Heavenly Emperor appeared on Yue Zhiyin's forehead. His dragon horns were concealed, and his dragon king's black robe transformed into a wide, flowing cloak with a white base and golden trim.
The immortals of the Nine Heavens were quite displeased by this, but Yue Zhiyin's strength was only second to Qi Yu and Si Qing.
Apart from those two, Yue Zhiyin could even fight Yu Zhen and Li Yu to a draw.
Therefore, despite their furious expressions, the immortals of the Nine Heavens dared not act rashly. With Qi Yu, who had absorbed the previous Heavenly Emperor's primordial spirit, present, they still had to bow their heads.
Yue Zhiyin waved his hand at them.
He then publicly announced that from this day forward, Li Yu and Yu Zhen would be honored as Imperial Teachers, exempt from formal greetings.
He also dissolved Qi Yu's oath with the previous Heavenly Emperor.
With the dissolution of this oath, Qi Yu transformed from a condemned immortal back into a free being, and the shackles of the underworld that had been bound to his soul quietly vanished.
Yue Zhiyin immediately issued an order to revoke Ling Ruo's title of High God and commanded the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals to swiftly apprehend her and bring her back to the Nine Heavens.
He also re-granted the golden elixir and summoned Si Qing back to the Nine Heavens.
Regarding Si Qing's return to the Nine Heavens, the immortals of the Nine Heavens expressed considerable dissent.
One female immortal stepped forward:
"Your Majesty, this action is highly inappropriate. Since War God Si Qing has already fallen into demonhood, he should not be allowed to return to the Heavenly Palace."
"I also believe what you say has merit, but what can I do?" Yue Zhiyin looked at the assembled immortals. "The situation in the Nine Heavens is still unstable. The evil ancestor from the lower realm has already established his dominion. I don't particularly care whether Si Qing can return, but without him, who among you can defeat the evil ancestor?"
The immortals of the Nine Heavens all looked towards Qi Yu, who had once been pursued by the previous Heavenly Emperor and was now free.
Times had changed. Previously, the Heavenly Palace did not permit the presence of demons.
But now, with the change of regime, Yue Zhiyin had ascended to the position of Heavenly Emperor, and he could allow whomever he wished to appear in the Heavenly Palace.
Therefore, the immortals no longer felt that the Heavenly Palace was being defiled by the presence of the ice demon and the rebellious god Si Qing in the great hall.
They were only concerned about why Si Qing, having fallen into demonhood, could be recalled.
Did the Nine Heavens really need Si Qing, the Divine Venerable, so badly?
Wasn't there also the powerful Qi Yu present?
It was rumored that he was the one who had killed the previous Heavenly Emperor.
Although he had fallen into the frigid abyss and forcefully departed, becoming a demon, in terms of strength, they all felt Qi Yu should be superior to the evil ancestor.
After all, Qi Yu was now a free demon.
It would be better to have Qi Yu deal with the evil ancestor than to recall Si Qing.
Qi Yu met their gazes, his voice cold:
"Why are you all looking at me? Ling Ruo had previously possessed my body, causing my current predicament. You all acted oblivious and foolish in front of the previous Heavenly Emperor. Although the demon and immortal realms have now reconciled, that does not mean I am willing to work for your Nine Heavens."
After speaking, Qi Yu winked at Yue Zhiyin.
Yue Zhiyin looked at the assembled immortals. "You are all aware of Qi Yu's experience. Ling Ruo is still using her body and is hiding within the Qilin clan. We couldn't even seek justice for her back then. How can we demand that Qi Yu fight the evil ancestor for the Nine Heavens? That's a bit excessive."
The immortals of the Nine Heavens fell silent.
Yue Zhiyin, however, was not in a hurry. "I am not insistent on Divine Venerable Si Qing. As long as you can nominate someone capable of slaying the evil ancestor, the matter of recalling Si Qing will be dropped."
The immortals fell silent again.
In the immortal cultivation world, there were thirteen heavens at the highest level. They were the immortals of the Nine Heavens. Although their titles were usually High God or High Immortal, their actual strength... was indeed declining with each generation.
The first generation of immortals to ascend to the Nine Heavens were all beings of extraordinary power, but they had now reached the tenth heaven.
And the later generations of immortals who ascended to the Nine Heavens, most of them had less spiritual power than the immortals of the previous generation in the Nine Heavens.
There were many reasons given, but the fundamental reason was simple.
They couldn't win.
╮(︶﹏︶)╭
"This humble immortal has no objections. I respectfully obey Your Majesty's decree." The female immortal who had first voiced her protest, after an awkward pause, finally chose to yield.
Once someone took the lead, it became easier for others to follow.
Thus, the immortals knelt, and no one dared to object further.
A celestial attendant presented a tray.
With a flick of his finger, Yue Zhiyin sent the golden elixir into Si Qing's brow.
Immediately, the malevolent energy within Si Qing vanished at a visible rate.
He was once again clad in the War God's royal robes.
He bowed and accepted the decree.
The troubles of the Nine Heavens finally began to subside.
After the immortals dispersed, Yue Zhiyin abandoned his earlier solemn demeanor and slumped onto the Heavenly Emperor's seat, pointing at Qi Yu and the others and complaining loudly:
"Dealing with the dragon clan's affairs every day is already exhausting enough, and now there's this added burden. You all did this on purpose! You just wanted to have fun and relax, so you deliberately dumped all the mess of the Nine Heavens onto me."
Qi Yu looked up at the sky.
Yu Zhen and Li Yu cleared their throats awkwardly.
Feng Mingqi, pulling Feng Yunzui and Feng Sixian along, went to Yue Zhiyin's table to grab immortal fruits.
Qi Nian was cracking melon seeds nearby.
Sui You pretended not to hear.
Chi Ming, Qi Yan, and Ming Lou were playing cat's cradle on the floor.
Clearly, none of them wanted to get involved.
Yue Zhiyin was furious.
"Hey, don't be angry, don't be angry," Qi Yu couldn't bear it and went to comfort Yue Zhiyin. "Actually, even if you become the Heavenly Emperor, it doesn't mean you won't have time to play. You can delegate all your official duties to the Imperial Teachers..."
Qi Yu whispered into Yue Zhiyin's ear, "He has nothing else to do anyway, and Grandfather is managing the Qilin clan's affairs now."
Yue Zhiyin's eyes lit up with sudden understanding.
The look he gave Li Yu made Li Yu's skin crawl.
Li Yu rubbed his arms. "Well, since the most serious problems have all been resolved, I propose we all go to the Qilin clan for a good meal. Anyone want to go?"
"Go, why wouldn't I?" Yue Zhiyin rolled up his sleeves. "You all deliberately gave me the hardest work and then went to enjoy yourselves. I've decided I'm going to eat you all out of house and home!"
Li Yu had no objections.
With just these people, trying to bankrupt the Qilin clan was still a far cry.
...
On the way to the Qilin clan.
Qi Yu recalled the two Qilin eggs from before and curiously asked Li Yu, "Father, how are those two eggs you laid doing?"
Yue Zhiyin covered his face, laughing so hard he coughed.
Li Yu glared with narrowed eyes. "How can you say that, child? What do you mean 'I laid them'? That was a miraculous conception."
"Those two eggs are doing fine. They're in the Qilin clan's incubation house. Apparently, there hasn't been much activity, so perhaps it's not time for them to hatch."
Qi Yu had complex feelings about these two eggs.
Unlike the four demon siblings, he didn't feel like he had gained a younger brother or sister from them at all.
Instead, he had the illusion that his father had hatched two pet eggs.
Unfortunately, he couldn't say that.
He nodded at Li Yu, indicating that he understood.
Upon entering the Qilin clan's territory, as everyone was heading to see the eggs, they encountered Heavenly Soldiers and Generals searching for Ling Ruo's whereabouts.
The Qilin clan had always stayed out of worldly affairs. Upon hearing that a fugitive sought by the Heavenly Court was hiding within the clan, they immediately cooperated and turned the entire Qilin clan upside down, but even so, Ling Ruo could not be found.
Some Heavenly Soldiers and Generals worried that Ling Ruo might have learned of the change in the divine realm's leadership and fled, so they split into three groups to pursue her.
In reality.
Within the dense forests of the Qilin clan.
Ling Ruo, who had already learned of the divine realm's news, had not left the Qilin clan. Her face was deathly pale as she dug out Qi Yu's primordial spirit and tossed it into a lake to prevent Qi Yu from finding it.
Then, dragging her broken body, she hid in a tree hollow.
After learning that the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals had searched for a long time without finding any trace of Ling Ruo in the Qilin clan's territory, Qi Yu did indeed help by using her connection to her original primordial spirit to search.
Upon discovering that the reaction of her primordial spirit was emanating from the bottom of a lake within the Qilin clan, she immediately led all the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals to search the lakebed.
As a result, the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals searched the area, and with so many people diving into the water, they only managed to retrieve one primordial spirit.
Ling Ruo's figure was nowhere to be seen.
"It seems Ling Ruo did receive the news," Sui You said, opening his hand and looking at the primordial spirit in his palm. "Otherwise, she wouldn't have run so fast."
As he said this, Sui You was handing the primordial spirit to Qi Yu when he paused, as if remembering something, and said with sudden realization:
"I remember now, Qi Yu, you're not Junior Brother, you're Junior Sister."
Yu Zhen, Li Yu, and Si Qing also remembered Qi Yu's accidental reveal.
A wave of guilt washed over them.
Upon hearing this, Feng Mingqi suddenly recalled.
Feng Sixian and Feng Yunzui looked at Qi Yu with belated realization.
Qi Yu met their gazes, his mind a bit muddled.
"No.
What's going on?
When did I reveal my true identity? Kuaishuge.
I didn't even know myself?
Qi Yu cast a questioning glance at Si Qing.
Si Qing received Qi Yu's gaze and hesitated, contemplating how to speak when Feng Mingqi suddenly interjected:
"Speaking of which... I just realized, Sister, you look exactly like the楼主 of our demon realm's Mingcang Tower."
Previously, they had assumed Qi Yu was a brother, so they hadn't paid much attention. Now that they knew Qi Yu was a girl, comparing their facial features and temperament, upon closer inspection, the more they looked, the more alike they seemed.
Upon hearing this, Feng Sixian's eyes widened.
Her face clearly conveyed two sentences.
The first sentence: "How is that possible? Are you lying to me?!"
The second sentence: "Qi Yu, quickly admit you're not the楼主 of Mingcang Tower, or this princess will make you suffer!"
Yu Zhen leaned on Li Yu's shoulder, silently covering his face.
Qi Yu: "..."
Although, it seemed her fate today was sealed.