Heaven's Second Mobilization

Heaven had never been this quiet.

In Lingxiao Palace, the civil and military officials stood in two rows, not a sound among them.

No one dared look up at the Jade Emperor's expression—because the last person who had looked up had been dragged away and struck by heavenly lightning three hundred times.

The Jade Emperor sat on the Nine-Dragon Throne with one hand propping up his forehead and his eyes closed.

He had held that pose for the time it took an incense stick to burn. He had neither spoken nor moved. But everyone in the hall knew that the quieter he was, the angrier he grew.

"So—" the Jade Emperor finally spoke, his voice unnaturally calm. "I gave you seven days—seven days—and what have you found?"

No one answered.

"Li Jing."

Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li stepped forward and knelt on one knee. "This subject is here."

"You are Heaven's Grand Marshal. Seven days ago, I ordered you to draw up a plan to crush them. Have you come up with one?"

Li Jing fell silent for a moment. "I have."

"What is it?"

"Surround them without attacking."

The Jade Emperor opened his eyes. His gaze fell on Li Jing like a pair of knives. "Say that again."

"Lingtai Square Inch Mountain is Patriarch Bodhi's abode. Though Patriarch Bodhi has lived in seclusion for many years, he was once a peak Daluo Golden Immortal. A direct assault would bring incalculable casualties among the Heavenly Soldiers. This subject recommends surrounding the mountain and sealing it off—cutting off supplies and escape routes, forcing them to come out on their own."

"Surround them without attacking..." The Jade Emperor slowly repeated the words, then laughed—a laugh that sent a chill down everyone's spine. "Good. What a fine plan. Then let me ask you this: every day that otherworldly boy spends on Fangcun Mountain, he recovers a little more of his strength. How long do you plan to keep the mountain surrounded? Until he's learned every last one of Patriarch Bodhi's abilities?"

Li Jing did not answer.

"Enough." The Jade Emperor rose from his throne and walked down, clapping his hands.

Someone entered from outside the hall, clad in silver armor and carrying a Three-Pointed Double-Edged Spear, with a third eye in his forehead. It was Erlang Shen, Yang Jian.

The Jade Emperor looked at Yang Jian and issued his order in a measured voice. "Yang Jian, I appoint you the vanguard of the punitive expedition. Lead twelve hundred Grass-Head Gods and depart at daybreak tomorrow. Your target is Lingtai Square Inch Mountain."

Yang Jian did not immediately accept the order. He raised his head, all three eyes fixed on the Jade Emperor. "Your Majesty, as for Patriarch Bodhi—"

"I will personally write Patriarch Bodhi a letter." The Jade Emperor's voice was as cold as winter ice. "If he hands over the otherworldly boy, Fangcun Mountain will be left in peace. If he insists on protecting him—" The Jade Emperor did not finish. But everyone in the hall knew what the rest of his words meant.

After court was dismissed, Taibai Jinxing did not return to his own residence. He went to Li Jing's marshal's estate.

Li Jing sat in his study, the tea before him already cold. He had not replaced it.

"Marshal, still not asleep?" Taibai Jinxing stood in the doorway without entering.

"I can't sleep."

"Neither can I."

Taibai Jinxing entered and sat across from Li Jing. He did not drink the tea, only studied Li Jing's eyes. "Marshal, do you believe the Jade Emperor can win?"

Li Jing's pupils contracted slightly. In Heaven, people who dared ask such questions usually did not live to see the next day. He did not answer.

Taibai Jinxing drew a sheet of paper from his sleeve and spread it across the table. "I simply couldn't sleep these past few days, so I cast three divinations."

Li Jing looked down. Three divination diagrams, each pointing to the same result: inauspicious. Greatly inauspicious. The worst possible omen.

"The first divination was for Yang Jian's expedition." Taibai Jinxing pointed to the first diagram. "Inauspicious—loss of a general. The second was for the Jade Emperor's decision—greatly inauspicious—loss of soldiers. The third..." He paused. "I divined Heaven's fortune."

Li Jing's gaze was fixed on the third diagram. "And the result?"

Taibai Jinxing did not answer. He gathered the three diagrams and tucked them back into his sleeve.

"Marshal, do you think that otherworldly boy really only beat Dhritarashtra and the Four Demon Kings through sheer luck?"

Li Jing was silent for a long time.

"You mean—"

"I didn't say anything." Taibai Jinxing rose and walked to the door. "I only came to give you these three divination diagrams. What you do with them is none of my concern."

He left. Li Jing sat alone in the study, the tea before him now completely cold.

Goten had no idea how long he had been sitting beneath the waterfall.

The force of the water had blurred his consciousness—not unconsciousness, but a very peculiar state.

His body remained seated where it was, but his senses had spread across the entire pool. He could feel the path of every drop of falling water.

He did not see it; he felt it with his body. The water struck his head, shoulders, and back, then slid down his skin. Every drop felt different.

The sensation was strange. He had never experienced anything like it in the Dragon Ball World.

The "ki" in the Dragon Ball World was a kind of energy sensing. You could sense how strong someone was, where they were, and whether they meant you harm.

But the "Origin Energy" in this world was different. It was something deeper. It wasn't about strength; it was about existence itself.

The water kept falling. The time it took an incense stick to burn had passed, but he had not been swept away.

He opened his eyes and stood up, realizing he had sat there for a full incense stick's worth of time. It was the first time he had managed it.

"Not bad." Patriarch Bodhi's voice came from the bank. Goten turned his head. Patriarch Bodhi stood beneath a willow tree, holding a gourd.

"Three days. You took three days to complete the path Sun Wukong had taken three months to walk."

Goten climbed out of the pool, soaked through, but his eyes shone like stars. "Really?"

"Really." Patriarch Bodhi tossed him the gourd. "Have a sip."

Goten caught the gourd and opened it. A fragrant aroma drifted out.

He took a sip. A warm current flowed from his throat to his dantian, then spread through his limbs and bones.

After being pounded by the waterfall for so long, he had felt as if every bone in his body were about to fall apart. But with that one sip, all his fatigue vanished.

"What is this?"

"Spirit Mist Wine. Ten times more concentrated than Spirit Mist Tea. You can handle it now."

Goten clenched his fist. The Origin Energy within him was more abundant than before.

He could feel the Saiyan energy inside him and the Origin Energy of this world slowly forming a connection—not one overpowering the other, but the two learning to coexist.

Goten climbed out of the pool, and Patriarch Bodhi handed him a dry cloth. He wiped his hair, then suddenly asked a question that had weighed on his mind for a long time.

"Old sir, when Sun Wukong left, why didn't you stop him?"

Patriarch Bodhi's hand paused in midair. He did not answer, but neither did he leave.

He sat on a rock by the bank, watching the waterfall, and remained silent for a long time. So long that Goten thought he would never answer.