Dipper Mother

The onboarding process was much simpler than Wen Ning had imagined. The four of them merely had their identities checked.

Wen Ning found it strange. With procedures this simple, weren't they worried about fraud?

The Heavenly Official in green glanced at Wen Ning.

"Fake it with what? Your own soul?"

Seeing how utterly inexperienced Wen Ning looked,

Lu Ming explained quietly beside him.

"Wen Ning, the Heavenly Court checks your soul information when you join. If you made it up here, that already proves you're the right person."

Only then did Wen Ning understand.

Once the paperwork was done, the green-robed Heavenly Official stacked the remaining documents and indicated that they could leave.

Lu Ming was the first to dart out of the side hall. Standing in the corridor, he stretched luxuriously, his bells jingling away.

He turned to Wen Ning, his eyes gleaming with the excitement of an old hand about to show a newcomer the ropes.

"Wen Ning! The first time you came to the Heavenly Court, you were dragged off to an interview. The second time, you went straight to the Heavenly Venerable's office to report in. You haven't had a proper look around yet, have you?"

Lu Ming threw an arm around Wen Ning's shoulders.

"Come on! We've still got time today, so I'll show you all the best parts of the Heavenly Court! You've already seen the Southern Heavenly Gate plaza, but I bet you haven't been to the Imperial Garden. Let me tell you, the flowers there aren't anything like mortal flowers. They're all spiritual plants. All four seasons bloom at once, and one tree can grow several kinds of fruit. Even the koi in the ponds have gained sentience. If you're lucky, you might see a dragon! Time to broaden your horizons."

Before Wen Ning could respond, Meng Jiang chimed in.

"Sounds good! I've never properly explored the Imperial Garden either. Lu Ming can be our guide."

Lu Ming's bells trembled when he heard Meng Jiang wanted to come too. But he had already made the offer and couldn't take it back, so he could only steel himself and lead the way.

The four passed through several corridors amid the clouds, the imposing palaces gradually giving way to a tranquil garden.

The Imperial Garden had no gate at its entrance, only two ancient cypresses towering into the clouds on either side of a gravel path.

Lu Ming walked at the front, introducing the sights to Wen Ning as they went.

"See that pond? There's a koi in there that's cultivated for three thousand years. It can become a dragon, but it refuses. Says being a fish in the Imperial Garden is more comfortable than being a dragon in the Eastern Sea. Someone feeds it every day, and it doesn't have to work. I wouldn't transform either."

Meng Jiang followed behind him, asking questions now and then.

"What kind of fruit is growing on that tree?"

Lu Ming always rushed to answer. When he got it right, he shook his bells proudly. When he got it wrong, Meng Jiang sternly corrected him, and his bells drooped. This repeated several times.

Wen Ning walked at the back, thoroughly enjoying the sights. He was the owner of a tiny agency whose sign outside had peeling paint, and he had spent two years living in an urban village. Suddenly finding himself strolling through the Heavenly Court's Imperial Garden felt decidedly unreal.

Suddenly, faint footsteps sounded around a corner. The spiritual energy throughout the Imperial Garden gently rose and fell in time with them.

Wen Ning instinctively turned to look.

A woman was approaching along the path beside a rockery. She wore a dark blue Daoist robe, and her hair was a bright golden yellow. Wen Ning instinctively wanted to ask, Does the Heavenly Court allow alternative fashion too?

But one look into her eyes made him swallow the question. They held a calm born of weathering the ages—not indifference, but the serenity of someone who had witnessed every rise and fall.

Lu Ming was introducing a tree that supposedly bore rainbow-colored fruit when he caught sight of her out of the corner of his eye. His words instantly caught in his throat, and even the antlers on his head trembled slightly.

Bai Lu reacted fastest. She had already straightened her posture and lowered her head slightly, looking at the ground.

Meng Jiang put away her playful expression and stood quietly in place as well.

Although Wen Ning had no idea who the newcomer was, Lu Ming's and Bai Lu's reactions made it clear that she was no ordinary immortal.

The woman approached, her gaze passing over all four of them before settling on Wen Ning.

More precisely, she was looking at his dantian, where there was a trace of the Five Thunder Righteous Method.

"Are you a Heavenly Official of the Thunder Department?"

Her voice carried an innate air of authority.

Wen Ning straightened and cupped his hands toward her.

"Yes. I'm Wen Ning, a Heavenly Official of the Thunder Department Celestial Registry. I just completed my onboarding today."

The woman nodded lightly.

Then she said something that briefly short-circuited Wen Ning's brain.

"I am Dipper Mother."

Wen Ning froze, then felt as though the Five Thunder Righteous Method had struck him squarely in the head.

Dipper Mother. He had kowtowed to his godfather for twenty years.

He had also read texts concerning his godfather, and they stated it quite clearly.

Wen Zhong's teacher was Golden Spirit Holy Mother, and her divine position in the Heavenly Court was Dipper Mother.

In other words, the woman standing before him with that overwhelming presence was his godfather's master—his grandmaster.

Wen Ning reacted faster than he could think. His mind was still processing their relationship, but his mouth got straight to the point.

"Your disciple Wen Ning pays his respects, Grandmaster."

Lu Ming's eyes widened beside him, his bells swaying once. Then he hurriedly bowed as well, muttering under his breath as he did.

"Right, right. Dipper Mother is Heavenly Venerable Wen's master. Of course Wen Ning should call her Grandmaster."

Dipper Mother was slightly surprised by how quickly Wen Ning had caught on.

She looked him up and down.

Then she asked,

"What did you say your name was?"

"Wen Ning."

"Wen Ning."

Dipper Mother repeated it, a faint hint of amusement entering her voice.

"Wen Zhong took in a godson who shares his surname. How interesting. With that temper of his, you're the first person in the Three Realms he's ever been willing to take as a godson."

She paused, then asked,

"You have the foundations of the Five Thunder Righteous Method within you. Did Wen Zhong teach you?"

"Yes."

Wen Ning wouldn't have dared conceal anything.

"My godfather said my cultivation is currently at the Earth Immortal level, and I've only just begun learning the Five Thunder Righteous Method."

Dipper Mother nodded slightly and said nothing more.

She merely took a small jade token from her sleeve and handed it to Wen Ning.

"Take it."

Her tone was casual.

"You are Wen Zhong's disciple, which makes you my granddisciple. This jade token contains the Eight-Nine Mysteries, a divine art of our Daoist guardians."

Wen Ning accepted the jade token with both hands. Before he could thank her, Dipper Mother had already waved a hand and turned to leave.

"When you go back, tell Wen Zhong to send me some of those cigarettes. Mortal things won't light in the Heavenly Court, but they smell rather nice when left to smolder in an incense burner."

Wen Ning stood there holding the Northern Dipper Jade Token, at a loss for words.

Lu Ming was the first to recover. He leaned close to Wen Ning's ear and lowered his voice, his bells trembling.

"Wen Ning, do you know what standing Dipper Mother has in the Heavenly Court? She's one of the Five Directions and Five Elders! You only joined today, and you ran straight into her. She even gave you the Eight-Nine Mysteries! Do you know what the Eight-Nine Mysteries is?"

"What is it?"

Bai Lu answered the question Lu Ming had left hanging.

"It's the signature art of True Lord Erlang, the Manifest Sage. He's the war god of the Three Realms, and he's the only one in the entire Heavenly Court who knows it."

Meng Jiang listened quietly, her gaze lingering on the jade token for a moment. Then she looked up at Wen Ning and said something that silenced everyone.

"Wen Ning, your connections in the Heavenly Court now run deeper than my aunt's River of Forgetfulness."

Without needing to discuss it, Lu Ming and the others refrained from asking to see the Eight-Nine Mysteries. They all knew it belonged to Wen Ning. No one else would dare examine something Dipper Mother had given him.