Seeing the rare sincerity in the other's tone, utterly devoid of his usual aloofness and pride,
Lord God of Wealth felt a surge of emotion. He immediately clasped his fists and smiled. "Many thanks for Plague Lord's regard. This little brother is truly flattered! Then by your reasoning, there must also be a group secretly manipulating the path of Fleshly Body Attaining Sainthood?"
"Perhaps." Plague Lord said blandly, "Three paths, three groups. That would make for a neat correspondence."
After pondering briefly, Lord God of Wealth pressed on, "Since accepting divine offices is meant to bring him closer to the Heavenly Court, then what is the purpose of my worthy brother's strange and uncanny divine abilities?"
Plague Lord said, "Didn't he say so himself? Besides, little brother, you've been an immortal for so long—have you even forgotten your own roots?"
Lord God of Wealth was stunned at first, then suddenly realized. "Ascension through merit?!"
Plague Lord slowly nodded. "But it probably isn't that simple. To possess such strange and uncanny divine abilities merely for ascension through merit would be a terrible waste of talent."
"Ultimately, immortal cultivators who ascend through merit are all like you and me. We discard our fleshly bodies, leaving behind only a Primordial Spirit.
Bound by the Heavenly Court, shackled by the incense offerings of the mortal world, and controlled by the Heavenly Dao.
Thus, the immortality mortals speak of is nothing but a joke to people like us.
The Southern Dipper Book of Life and Death held by the Southern Dipper Star Lord records our lifespans with perfect clarity. Not even innate deities are exempt.
Among the Three Realms, only those who attain the realm of Quasi-Sage or above can live as long as Heaven and escape the restraints of the Southern Dipper Book of