Heavenly Venerable Shao answered plainly, "Calculating people and calculating human affairs are not my strengths. So I do not concern myself with what the Palace does. They sent me here to discuss the Thirty-Six Heavens with the Heavenly Lord—the Thirty-Six Heavens built on the Shangqing framework!"
Yu Ci was both surprised and baffled. "The Thirty-Six Heavens of Shangqing? I recall that your sect's Thirty-Six Heavens system has been refined over countless tribulations and should be more complete... Wait, why discuss the Thirty-Six Heavens?"
"According to the Palace, that one in the East Sea intends to establish a separate system and overturn heaven and earth. Under the present circumstances, Heaven-Measuring and Yuan-Stabilizing has already become useless. The Palace's intention is to pit itself directly against him. Therefore..."
"So you will not use yours, but ours?"
Yu Ci was first jolted by the news that Eight Sceneries Palace had completely rejected Heaven-Measuring and Yuan-Stabilizing, then found it absurd enough to make him laugh.
"Your sect's thoughts truly are as unfathomable as gods and ghosts."
"I dare not rashly speak of the Palace's intentions. Yet in terms of principles alone, although both versions of the Thirty-Six Heavens benefit the mystic schools, the Thirty-Six Heavens of Shangqing are more stable than the Palace's vertical structure, better suited to chaos. That is an indisputable fact."
"Oh?"
"The Thirty-Six Heavens built on the Shangqing framework have eight heavens in each of the east, west, south, and north, set apart in the four directions. They are like the four pillars supporting the sky. They may appear scattered, but the configuration can divide or unite, granting great flexibility. Even if one region falters, the other directions can still hold the situation together. It is also more conducive to increasing, reducing, and redeploying military strength.
"As for the vertical