A Deal Is a Deal-I'll Never Break My Word!

A seven-colored Auspicious Cloud churned as though boiling, carrying a figure deeper into the Heavenly Court.

Yang Niansan stood atop the cloud, muttering incessantly, "Was I a little too fierce just now? Even the floor tiles cracked. Will he think all I know how to do is fight?"

"Oh dear!"

"No, no, I have to be gentler from now on. If I'm already as fierce as a fiend, what will happen later?"

Yang Niansan reflected on her behavior as she drifted along with the wind.

Under the Heavenly Court's decrees, the airspace above the Bright Hall was a restricted zone. Unless they held the Golden Command Token and Arrow, no immortal was permitted to fly clouds there at will. Violators faced removal from the Immortal Register at best, or imprisonment in the Heavenly Prison at worst.

Below the cloud route, a squad of Golden-Armored Heavenly Soldiers happened to be on patrol.

One soldier, who had only recently ascended and been assigned military duties, spotted the seven-colored Auspicious Cloud brazenly sailing overhead.

He drew the Demon-Subduing Saber at his waist and was about to soar up to intercept and question its rider. "You insolent outlaw! How dare you fly above the Bright Hall-"

Before he could finish shouting.

The veteran beside him reacted swiftly, clapping a hand over the recruit's mouth. "Have you gone mad?!"

"Senior! The Heavenly Laws explicitly state," the young soldier protested, looking bewildered and aggrieved, "that unauthorized cloud travel above the Bright Hall is forbidden. This is a blatant violation of the decrees. As heavenly soldiers on patrol, how can we turn a blind eye?"

"Idiot!"

The veteran smacked the back of the recruit's head and scolded him. "Look carefully! What is that immortal standing on? That's a seven-colored Auspicious Cloud! Is that someone you can stop? Go on, get out of the way!"

The young soldier looked indignant, but obediently stepped aside.

Pretending he had seen nothing, the veteran led the squad away.

When serving in the Heavenly Court, one had to keep one's eyes sharp.

White clouds and azure clouds belonged to Immortal Officials; golden clouds and purple clouds belonged to mighty Star Lords.

As for seven-colored Auspicious Clouds?

Among those in the Three Realms who could ride a seven-colored Auspicious Cloud around the Heavenly Court, whose connections did not reach all the way to heaven?

Amid the sea of clouds, she pondered this way and that, wondering what incense she should switch to in order to seem more approachable.

Suddenly.

The Astral Wind abruptly froze.

An ink-black shadow tore through the void and hurtled straight at her face.

It moved as swiftly as racing thunder and flashing lightning, leaving her no time to react.

Yang Niansan's expression changed in alarm, her pupils shrinking. Before her furious shout could escape, the dark shadow descended over her head.

On closer inspection, it was a black cloak that blotted out the sky and sun.

"The Heaven-Sweeping Cloak?!" Yang Niansan cried. This was a supreme treasure carried by a Great Luo Golden Immortal.

The cloak wrapped around her, instantly locking down the surrounding five elements and eight trigrams and cutting off the flow of immortal power.

Yang Niansan's vision went black, and she could not move a muscle. Utterly unreasonable-a clean, decisive takedown at first contact!

The stars wheeled, and the void turned inside out.

When light returned to her eyes, Yang Niansan had been carried all the way under the restraint of a divine ability and stood before a great hall.

The hall was vast and bare on all four sides, its black iron pillars towering into the clouds. Directly ahead hung a huge plaque with golden lettering on a black background, bearing three imposing characters steeped in murderous force-the Hall of Justice.

When Yang Niansan recognized the stern figure seated in the hall's principal seat, her fury soared thirty feet high. "Second Brother! You're completely unreasonable! You actually ambushed me! You struck your own family without even a word of warning!"

She planted both hands on her hips, her face full of defiance.

Yang Jian's swordlike brows drew together slightly, and he snorted. "Third Sister! Stop shouting! Look at yourself, so utterly lacking in decorum and so reckless! Where is even a trace of the restraint a female immortal ought to possess?"

Yang Chan had been raised single-handedly by her second brother since childhood, sheltered in the palm of his hand.

The siblings had depended on each other through countless calamities, and their bond ran incredibly deep. The True Lord was decisive and ruthless outside, yet when it came to his own younger sister, he could never bring himself to strike or berate her. He could only lecture her.

Precisely because she knew her second brother's limits, Yang Chan was not afraid in the slightest.

At his reprimand, she curled her lip and rolled her eyes. Then she immediately abandoned her belligerent, hands-on-hips stance, took two steps back, and folded her hands before her.

"This subordinate pays her respects to the True Lord!"

Seeing Yang Jian's eyes widen as though he were about to erupt.

Yang Chan hastily raised a hand to stop him and declared with perfect assurance, "Now! Don't glare at me yet, True Lord! This is the Heavenly Court's Divine Hall of Justice, a place for conducting official business and discussing affairs. We're on duty right now, so we must address each other by our positions! We're superior and subordinate, not brother and sister!"

Using bureaucratic formalities to silence her elder brother was sheer unreasonable mischief.

"Third Sister!" Yang Jian's face darkened as he said sternly, "Stop making trouble here! A few days of fun were enough. Pack your things at once and return to the Holy Mother Temple on Mount Hua for secluded cultivation! If Mount Hua bores you, you can stay at Guanjiangkou instead. The Heavenly Court's waters run deep. This is no place for you to parade about!"

Yang Chan turned her head aside, looking thoroughly indignant.

Return to Mount Hua for secluded cultivation?

Go count grains of sand at Guanjiangkou?

Absolutely not!

As long as she did not nod and agree in front of Yang Jian, who in all the vast Heavenly Court would dare stop her?

Seeing his younger sister's stubborn expression, Yang Jian sighed helplessly.

The True Lord slowly rose. Before he could speak, Yang Chan beat him to it and recited his lines for him. "We are immortals of the Heavenly Court, charged with divine duties. Every word we speak and every move we make is watched by the Heavenly Hosts of Gods and Buddhas!"

Nor did she stop there.

Yang Chan even imitated Yang Jian's posture, clasping both hands behind her back and lowering her voice. She reproduced even the curve of the crease between his brows to perfection. "We must remain composed when facing difficulties. Never rely on divine abilities to act recklessly. Above all, we must not disgrace the dignity of heaven and make ourselves a laughingstock among the immortals!"

She recited every word without error, capturing his tone and expression exactly.

The whole bellyful of teachings Yang Jian had prepared was stopped up tight.

The mighty Justice Heavenly Deity, who had slain countless peerless demons and suppressed countless rebellious immortals, was utterly helpless before his mischievous younger sister.

Had any other immortal dared behave so insolently, Yang Jian would have acted long ago.

But the person standing before him was his own flesh and blood, his little sister. Surely he could not find a mountain to pin her beneath, too?

Seeing that her second brother had no answer, Yang Chan quit while she was ahead. She circled behind Yang Jian and began kneading the True Lord's broad shoulders in an attempt to please him.

"Second Brother~" Yang Chan drew out the last syllable, wheedling in a soft, sweet voice. "Don't always wear that iron face. Every immortal in heaven is afraid when they see you. Smile more! One smile makes you ten years younger."

Under repeated bombardment from sugar-coated shells, even an iron man would melt into softness that curled around a finger.

Yang Jian closed his eyes and let his sister massage his shoulders. Most of the anger in his heart had already dissipated.

However.

He had military duties to attend to and could not allow his sister to keep causing mischief.

"Third Sister, spare me your honeyed words." Yang Jian's fingertip twitched, and a streak of golden light sank into Yang Chan's body.

Yang Chan felt her immortal power seize up, and her immortal body could no longer move even half an inch.

The Body-Binding Spell!

Another ambush!

"Second Brother! You're using tricks like this again!" Yang Chan shouted angrily, her eyes wide.

Yang Jian reached back, picked up the immobilized Yang Chan, and strode toward the Inner Hall. "I'm about to march to the Heaven-Reaching River to suppress a rebellion. While I'm away from the Heavenly Court, you must not go around stirring up trouble. In the name of the Justice Heavenly Deity, I order you confined to this bedchamber for three days! During those three days, you may not set so much as half a step outside the hall!"

Confined for three days?

To an immortal with an endless lifespan, three days were no more than a quick nap.

Yang Chan did not take the confinement seriously at all.

Instead, the words "march to the Heaven-Reaching River" instantly set her mind working.

If Chen Wei could follow her second brother into the army and land some easy post like military inspector, then ride the current to scoop up some military merit, would he not be promoted faster afterward?

Yang Chan's eyes shifted, and she asked in a deliberately sweet voice, "Second Brother, does the army need an accompanying adviser? Could your little sister recommend an extraordinary talent from the immortal realm?"

"An extraordinary talent?" Yang Jian raised a brow.

"That's right!" Yang Chan hurried to promote Chen Wei, her voice brimming with praise. "He handles official business deftly and thinks with meticulous care. Even Taibai Jinxing is full of praise for him. If you bring him along, Second Brother, he might prove extremely useful at the Heaven-Reaching River!"

After hearing her out, Yang Jian did not reject her immediately. Instead, he offered a condition. "That would be acceptable, but on one condition: can you stay quietly in your bedchamber and cause no trouble for three days?"

"A deal is a deal!"

Yang Chan agreed without hesitation, her voice crisp and certain. "As long as you agree, Second Brother, I'll stay obediently in my room and go nowhere! I'll never break my word!"