Command the Heavens, Rule the Earth

"Alright, Chan'er, your brother will take you to see what the Heavenly Court looks like!"

With that, Qin Hong took Yang Chan's hand and led Yang Jian straight toward the Heavenly Court.

Seeing that Qin Hong had finally left, the Dragon Kings, who had just been on their last breaths and unable to move, instantly sprang back to life. There was no trace of their earlier misery.

They all shot up from the ground and plunged directly into the nearest rivers and lakes.

Although Qin Hong had hit them hard, he had not dealt fatal blows. Thus, while the Dragon Kings looked utterly miserable, they had not actually suffered much damage—just a few superficial wounds.

Now that Qin Hong was gone, they immediately recovered their vigor.

"He's practically a little devil!"

The moment they entered the waters, the Dragon Kings burst into tears.

"He really doesn't treat us like dragons at all!"

"Exactly! He's way too arrogant!"

"We're Dragon Kings! When have we ever endured such humiliation?"

"Boohoo... my dragon horn was even broken. It hurts so much!"

"And you're complaining? Look at me! He knocked out several of my teeth. I can barely speak without air leaking out!"

It could be said that Qin Hong's beating—

did little damage, but was immensely insulting!

"No, we can't just let this go. He beat us, so he has to pay the price!"

"The Heavenly Emperor was the one who told us to do this. Now that we've been bullied, let's go find the Heavenly Emperor!"

"Mm, alright!"

"That makes sense. Let's find the Four Seas Dragon Kings first!"

These dragons were Dragon Kings capable of summoning wind and rain in the eyes of mortals.

But among cultivators, they were merely a few minor dragons. In Haotian's eyes, they were even more insignificant.

Their status was too low. These Dragon Kings did not even qualify to ascend to the heavens, so they could only seek out the Four Seas Dragon Kings first, then use their help to appeal to Haotian for justice!

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

"Second Brother, are we... are we really going to the Heavenly Court to meet... the Heavenly Emperor?" Qin Hong led Yang Jian along, but Yang Jian was still in a daze, as though everything before him was unreal and merely a dream!

The Heavenly Emperor?

Haotian!

He ruled over the entire Heavenly Court and all the immortals.

His authority was unimaginably great.

His status was unimaginably high.

And now, he and Yang Chan were simply going up there? This was far too...

"Why not?" Qin Hong said calmly.

"Isn't it just the Heavenly Court?"

"It's not some extraordinary place!"

"Besides, little sister Chan'er wants to see it, so we'll go take a look!"

"As for Haotian, what's there to fear? I'm here!"

"Why can't we talk things over properly? I'll definitely have a good talk with him!"

"Uh..."

I'm worried about your way of having a good talk!

Hearing Qin Hong's words, Yang Jian wanted to say something more, but did not know what to say. In the end, he simply closed his mouth, though the tension on his face did not lessen in the slightest.

"Ding! The host beat up evil dragons and, relying on his powerful backing, forced them to dare not fight back."

"The system rewards the host with one innate spirit fruit: Wind Thunder Apricot!"

Just as Qin Hong rode the clouds, the system's voice suddenly sounded by his ear.

"Hm? Wind Thunder Apricot?"

"Holy crap, that's good stuff!"

"I just casually beat up a few little dragons, and I actually got such a fine treasure as a reward!"

"Looks like I can't keep a low profile anymore!"

"I thought I had already made full use of the benefits of having powerful backing. Now it seems this is only the beginning!"

"Beating up a few lousy dragons earned me a Wind Thunder Apricot. If I beat up Haotian..."

The Wind Thunder Apricot was an innate spirit fruit containing the power of the Laws of Wind and Lightning. If an ordinary person consumed it, they could instantly wield the Laws of Wind and Lightning, becoming immensely powerful.

Lei Zhenzi had grown wings and gained the ability to wield wind and lightning because he had eaten a Wind Thunder Apricot.

With the Wind Thunder Apricot, along with the Yellow Middle Plum he had obtained earlier, Qin Hong's strength could rise by quite a bit.

Then, he could wield the power of wind and lightning while tempering his physical body.

Qin Hong happily imagined it. Wouldn't that mean I'd be beating myself up?

Haha, so I was the clown all along!

At this moment, Qin Hong could not wait to see Haotian and do something that could not be described in polite words!

The current Heavenly Court was vastly inferior to the Demon Clan's Heavenly Court of old.

The Demon Clan's Heavenly Court had once relied on Mount Buzhou and was built atop its summit.

It truly overlooked the entire primordial world.

Back then, the Heavenly Court had Demon Emperor Dijun, Donghuang Taiyi, Demon Master Kunpeng, and Fuxi, who was also a giant figure within the Demon Clan. All four were Quasi-Saints, each possessing powerful treasures, with combat strength comparable to Saints!

Below them were the Ten Great Demon Sages, all at the Late Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm, their strength terrifyingly formidable.

After the Witch-Demon War, the Witch Clan and Demon Clan had essentially fought each other to ruin.

By the end of the battle, Mount Buzhou had collapsed. The Demon Clan's Heavenly Court lost its support and nearly fell into the mortal world.

Vast torrents of heavenly water poured down upon the world.

Under such circumstances, Saint Nuwa acted to refine stones and mend the heavens, while the Three Pure Ones used great Divine Abilities to place the Heavenly Court in the Ninth Heaven, preventing it from falling to the earth.

That was how the Heavenly Court where Haotian now resided came to be.

It had been established upon the foundation of the Demon Clan's Heavenly Court.

In truth, after the Witch-Demon War, Haotian became the Heavenly Emperor.

Although the Heavenly Court was in the Ninth Heaven, it had not severed its connection to the earth. There were many heavenly ladders on the ground that led directly to the Heavenly Court!

At that time in the primordial world, the Heavenly Emperor governed the immortals, while the Human Emperor ruled the mortal realm. Their statuses were equal.

Sometimes, when the Human Emperor had nothing better to do, he would even lead the Human Race up the heavenly ladders and fight the Heavenly Emperor.

Most people did not know these secrets, but as Saint Tongtian's son, Qin Hong had heard all of them as stories.

Not to mention anything else, Earth Emperor Shennong and Human Emperor Xuanyuan of the Three Sovereigns had both ascended to the heavens and fought there!

Later, the Heavenly Emperor felt that this could not continue. The Human Emperor kept leading people up the heavenly ladders to fight whenever he pleased, and that was simply too...

So he severed every heavenly ladder connecting the earth and the Heavenly Court, forbidding the Human Race from ascending to the Heavenly Court again.

In truth, he was also afraid that one day he might fight the Human Emperor and lose. That would be far too embarrassing!

Furthermore, after the Witch-Demon War, most of the primordial world's fortune belonged to the Human Race, which was favored by the Heavenly Dao.

The Human Race grew stronger and stronger. What if, one day, some Human Emperor got it into his head to go up and sit in the Heavenly Emperor's seat? That would be a disaster.

Even though it had not happened before, one had to guard against it, right?

Otherwise, if the Human Race conquered the Heavenly Court, it would truly become the greatest joke in the primordial world.

That was why Haotian used the Twelve Golden Immortals of the Sect of Enlightenment as a pretext and wept at Zixiao Palace to beg Hongjun to initiate the Investiture of the Gods—for the sake of adding fresh troops to the Heavenly Court and replenishing its strength.

Once the Investiture of the Gods Tribulation ended and the three hundred and fifty-six Heaven and Earth Righteous Gods on the Investiture of the Gods Scroll took their positions, the Heavenly Dao would be completed. The Heavenly Court's strength would reach its peak, and it could become the number one power in the primordial world!

Command the heavens, rule the earth!

All heaven and earth would be under the Heavenly Court's control.

Even the Human Sect, Sect of Enlightenment, Interception Sect, and Western Sect founded by Saints would not be worth mentioning in the Heavenly Court's eyes.

As for the myriad races of the primordial world, they could only bow their heads and submit to the Heavenly Court.

Whatever the Heavenly Court said went!