Little immortal official, your office truly is a formidable place!

Along the cloud road, a monk approached at an unhurried pace. He was none other than Master Ling, whom they had met at Flower Fruit a few days earlier.

A guest from Spirit Mountain, an office of the Heavenly Court.

Chen Wei dared not put on airs. He hurried across the threshold to greet him in a clear voice. "Master, I trust you've been well since we last met."

Yang Niansan froze briefly at the sight of the monk.

The monk's gaze passed over Chen Wei and fixed squarely on Yang Niansan. A moment later, an ambiguous smile appeared on his face. "Oh my, this immortal official looks awfully familiar."

He had scarcely finished speaking.

The corner of Yang Niansan's eye twitched. If she let him go on, there was no telling what trouble he might stir up.

Before Chen Wei could introduce her, she cupped her hands and cut in. "Yang Niansan pays her respects, Senior."

Crisp and decisive, she announced her own name and blocked off the conversation in the same breath.

"Heh heh, what a fine Niansan!" The amusement in the monk's eyes deepened as he remarked meaningfully, "Little immortal official, your office truly is a formidable place!"

Chen Wei's expression remained unchanged. Maintaining a modest air, he smoothly accepted the teasing. "You flatter us. The office has only just been established, and we're short of immortals and generals. We depend entirely on the protection of those above. Please don't stand out on the cloud road, Master. Come inside."

"No, no, I'll just say my piece and be on my way." The monk waved a hand, declining outright.

After rummaging in his broad sleeve for a moment, he drew out a jade token shimmering with silver light and casually tossed it over.

Chen Wei raised a hand and caught it securely.

Warm and smooth to the touch, the token bore a faintly gleaming golden star carved into its face. It was Taibai Jinxing's personal token.

"Earlier, this humble monk visited the Bright Hall to seek a little alms from Taibai Jinxing." The monk scratched his bald head, his tone casual. "The Star Lord told me to take this token and have a word with you, little immortal official."

To bear the Star Lord's written authority was to stand in his presence.

Chen Wei's expression grew solemn. Holding the Command Token in both hands, he straightened. "Since this is the Star Lord's decree, please give me your instructions, Master!"

"It isn't a matter of my own." The monk pointed west and said slowly, "Today, this humble monk has come on account of a trouble plaguing Spirit Mountain's Sandalwood Merit Buddha."

The Sandalwood Merit Buddha.

He was the former Tang Sanzang, now a rising luminary of Spirit Mountain.

A great Buddha whose affairs involved the fortunes of both Buddhism and Daoism had a problem, yet the Star Lord had assigned the task to Chen Wei?

Mount Hua.

A furtive figure hugged the shade of the trees, stopping three times with every step as he edged toward the Holy Mother Temple.

This man was none other than Liu Yanchang.

Ever since that disgraceful incident two years earlier, he had avoided Mount Hua like snakes and scorpions.

He dared set foot here again today only because he had consulted a wandering Daoist a few days earlier. The Daoist had declared with absolute certainty that his destiny was noble and pure, and that he should have risen smoothly into the clouds of high office.

Unfortunately, tangled karma had earned him the loathing of the Western Peak's deity, obstructing his fortunes.

There was only one way to resolve it: return to the Holy Mother Temple and untangle that karma.

Having swallowed this nonsense, Liu Yanchang hesitated for a long time. In the end, his greed for fame and wealth prevailed, and he steeled himself to climb Mount Hua.

It was noon, and there were few worshippers inside the temple.

Liu Yanchang slunk furtively along the wall to the Holy Mother's statue. He first glanced around, making sure no bystanders were watching, then lifted the hem of his robe and dropped onto a prayer cushion with a thud.

With his palms pressed together, he bowed repeatedly.

"Holy Mother."

Liu Yanchang lowered his voice, muttering with a belly full of grievances. "This student is not greedy. I merely possess ambitions I cannot fulfill. Alas, the world is unjust, and the examination halls are corrupt, leaving me no opportunity to display my talents. To have all my learning buried in a backwater village is truly a waste. I beg the Holy Mother to show great mercy, overlook our past grievances, favor this student, and grant me a blessed opportunity..."

He had barely finished speaking.

High in the Nine Heavens, a purple thunderbolt exploded out of nowhere in what had been a clear, cloudless sky.

Thunder rolled.

It shook the blue tiles of the entire Holy Mother Temple until they rattled.

Liu Yanchang shuddered at the thunder and prostrated himself. Once its echoes subsided, he summoned the courage to lift his head. The instant his gaze reached the altar, he froze.

Upon the altar, the statue of carved wood and molded clay had changed without his noticing.

The wood grain faded, and the clay shell peeled away, revealing the lifelike manifestation of a female immortal whose celestial beauty stood apart from the mortal world.

Her brows were like distant, dusky mountains, her eyes like autumn waters.

The female immortal wore a frost-colored, cross-collared court gown. Its skirts trailed and spread like rippling water, their surface shifting gently with the light. A moon-white silk stole more than ten feet long looped around her arms and floated in the air, drifting slowly without a breeze.

Her dark hair was swept into a cloudlike bun, unadorned by elaborate pearls or jewels.

Only a lustrous, mutton-fat white jade hairpin was set at an angle, its beaded tassels swaying gently.

Her brows were like distant, dusky mountains, her eyes like autumn waters.

A clear, jade-like radiance unique to divinities suffused the contours of her face, and her small crimson lips were lightly pressed together.

Pure and exquisite beyond compare, she bore not the slightest trace of mortal smoke or dust.

What ordinary mortal had ever seen such beauty, transcending the cycle of reincarnation?

Liu Yanchang stared, dumbstruck. He swallowed and unconsciously murmured, "So beautiful... an immortal maiden?"

Boom!

Just as he sank into his infatuation, another deafening thunderclap erupted.

Lightning tore the heavens apart.

The second thunderclap frightened Liu Yanchang back to his senses, and he frantically wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

Still shaken, he raised his eyes toward the altar again.

The vision of the peerlessly beautiful immortal maiden had vanished without a trace. Before the statue, a tall, imposing figure had appeared out of thin air.

The newcomer stood with his back to the incense table, his presence overwhelming.

Liu Yanchang collapsed to the floor in fright and scrambled backward in panic. "A demon! What manner of being are you? There wasn't a single living thing here a moment ago!"

The tall figure ignored the scholar's clamor behind him. He stood with his hands behind his back, studying the clay divine image upon the altar.

From the moment this figure descended into the hall, the thunder rolling through the Nine Heavens had been forcibly erased, as though by an invisible hand.

The sea of clouds fell deathly still, without the slightest sound.

Even the blue incense smoke inside the hall hung motionless, as if frozen.

Seeing that the stranger remained silent, Liu Yanchang recovered a little courage. He propped himself up and was about to demand an answer.

Suddenly.

The figure slowly turned, revealing a stern, majestic face. Between his brows lay the faint trace of a closed vertical line.

A single glance swept over him.

Every word in Liu Yanchang's throat was stifled, and an uncontrollable urge to kowtow in worship rose within him.

Uncanny.

Truly uncanny.

Liu Yanchang no longer spared a thought for fame or wealth. He scrambled and tumbled out of the hall.

Only one thought remained in his mind: he would never set foot on the Western Peak again as long as he lived.

Once the footsteps of his panicked flight faded away, the air within the shadows to the statue's left twisted slightly.

A divine general clad in black armor, holding an iron-ribbed folding fan, manifested and said respectfully, "Second Lord!"

"That scholar just now was overrun with greed and spoke outrageous words." Yang Jian reached out and brushed a trace of dust from the incense table, then continued slowly, "His allotted life should have ended beneath today's Nine Heavens Divine Thunder. Fortunately for him, he was in Third Sister's sacred domain and escaped that calamity beneath the protection of the Western Peak's incense offerings."

"However."

"To be struck by lightning is the working of heavenly destiny. Wouldn't escaping calamity to preserve his life disrupt the laws of yin and yang?"

"This cannot be allowed!"

"Follow him. Act in accordance with the Heavenly Dao and see him on his way."

"Oh, right." With a casual gesture, Yang Jian shattered the written fortune Liu Yanchang had left behind into powder. "There's also that wandering Daoist who divulged heaven's secrets. Find out where his cave abode is, and pay him a visit to tidy it up."

"Your subordinate obeys!" The divine general cupped his hands and accepted the command, then dissolved into a wisp of blue smoke.

Yang Jian raised his head toward the sea of clouds where the Heavenly Court lay, his gaze fathomless.

In the name of heavenly destiny, he carried out utter extermination.

An ant had dared harbor impure thoughts toward the Holy Mother. Even one lingering glance was a crime punishable by death.