Keeping Mum

What's done is done, and Zhang Xuezhou hadn't anticipated that Donghua would replace the Emperor before the centennial celebration.

This was a grand event that changed the power dynamics of the Sacred Land, but it also ultimately benefited Donghua.

The merger of the secret realm is not simply a matter of piecing two pieces together; it must involve enormous interests.

Zhang Xuezhou was a little sad. He was jumping around trying to prevent any trouble, but Donghua completely ignored him.

With the schemes against Zhu Jiuyin and the relocation of the Kunlun Sacred Land at stake, Donghua had no time to spare, let alone pursue Zhang Xuezhou.

"It would be great if we could cause some destruction!"

As his opponent continued to develop, Zhang Xuezhou's mind was filled with wicked thoughts.

Having been placed in opposing positions, Donghua didn't kill him not because he had let the matter rest, but because he was too busy.

Zhang Xuezhou would not mistakenly conclude that Donghua had made peace with him simply because Donghua was currently unavailable.

Judging from Donghua's movements, the other party is very active and is constantly using the nominal jurisdiction privileges brought about by the centennial event to carry out its own affairs.

Donghua has a single goal in mind, and many of his actions are inevitably for his own benefit.

If we can sabotage Donghua's affairs, it will weaken Donghua's strength.

To be honest, Zhang Xuezhou was very willing to cause trouble, but merging secret realms was really absurd. At most, he would use the three secret realms to play with collisions and guide Spiritual Qi storms, while Donghua was directly merging two secret realms that were far apart. This was indeed beyond Zhang Xuezhou's comprehension.

This is somewhat similar to Zhang Xuezhou considering buying a house in Chang'an City, while Donghua is already preparing to relocate the entire Chang'an City to Luoyang; the two operate with completely different energies.

Compared to the others, this is undoubtedly a case of the small fry compared to the big fish; Zhang Xuezhou's actions seem rather petty.

"The Kunlun Sacred Land is so vast, and the Lingxiao Sacred Land is so far away, how can they fly to the same place?"

The information revealed by Li Tianwang undoubtedly eased the awkwardness. Following Li Tianwang's words, not only did Zhang Xuezhou show interest, but Yang Jian also quickly put aside the embarrassing matter about the prize and turned to ask Li Tianwang seriously.

"I don't know either," King Li shook his head repeatedly, "The Immortal Court has already relocated many people to the mortal realm, and almost all the celestial officials below the Star Lord level have been dismissed, just in case they encounter the destruction or collision with the Lingxiao Palace!"

"The Immortal Court only retains celestial officials of Star Lord rank and above?" Yang Jian asked in astonishment. "Does that mean there are fewer than a hundred of them left?"

"Some were left to do the work, but there aren't many cultivators left in the Immortal Court, maybe only one or two hundred," Li Tianwang nodded.

"I can only imagine the magnificent scene of ten thousand immortals paying homage to the Immortal Court in its heyday; I never imagined it would fall into such a desolate state!"

Yang Jian sighed, feeling that the Immortal Court had fallen to such a state that even dogs wouldn't bother with it.

"When we first entered this secret place, we saw the True Lord fishing here to purify his mind. Has the True Lord gone out to subdue demons again?"

Li Tianwang clearly didn't want to discuss the troublesome affairs of the Immortal Court; although he held a very high position, his knowledge was extremely limited.

When Zhang Xuezhou couldn't answer his questions after a couple of questions, and his face turned awkward, he also found an excuse to ask Yang Jian, trying to change the subject.

"We didn't subdue any demons," Yang Jian shook his head and said, "There's a general outside named Tang Meng who likes to practice swordsmanship, so the seven of us brothers went to spar with him!"

"Who is this Tang Meng? How could he possibly go toe-to-toe with the True Lord?" Li Tianwang exclaimed in surprise.

"He was a General of the Central Army in the Great Han Dynasty, skilled in military strategy and tactics, and exceptionally talented," Yang Jian said earnestly. "This man wanted to wipe out the old kingdoms of Qiong, Zuo, and Ranmang in one fell swoop. Out of consideration for the ties between Kunlun and these old kingdoms, I intervened and stopped him. We fought several battles against each other!"

" With the True Lord's intervention, it should be a piece of cake," Li Tianwang said, shaking his head.

"Those tribal kingdoms are no match for the Great Han army. Our presence there can only provide temporary relief," Yang Jian waved his hand and said, "We were fortunate that their internal discord gave them a brief respite!"

"Most troubles lie hidden within; their internal discord is a good thing!"

Li Tianwang nodded repeatedly, stroking his beard with a happy expression, which made Yang Jian frown slightly.

Although he benefited from it, Yang Jian was not one to take advantage of others' misfortunes. He usually stopped short of doing anything, which was a significant difference from politicians like Li Tianwang.

He and Li Tianwang and others could compete in skills and cooperate in action, but they were very prone to disagreement when discussing plans and actions; the more they talked, the more likely they were to clash.

Feeling a vague unease from talking to Li Tianwang, Yang Jian couldn't help but glance at the tea in the kettle again.

His secret retreat was somewhat luxurious, but aside from tea and fish, there was nothing else to do, making his hospitality a bit awkward.

"Grand Commandant Kang, throw these fish into the pot and boil them. I'll eat and chat with the Heavenly King, Shuo Xian, Jin Zha, and Mu Zha!"

Yang Jian glanced at the large pot and interrupted the conversation about himself when he gave instructions to Grand Commandant Kang.

"Alright!"

A burly, bearded man chopping wood and tending the fire agreed and took fish from the fish basket.

He didn't even gut the fish; he simply tossed the few stupid fish that had taken the hooks straight into the boiling tea.

As the fish throbbed in the boiling water, its scales began to turn white. The boiling water continued to cook, producing patches of white liquid that mixed with the pale yellow tea, turning the liquid a light yellow color.

The aroma of fish and tea wafted over, and even though Zhang Xuezhou wasn't a picky eater, his stomach felt a little uncomfortable.

"It's a rare treat that the True Lord uses spiritual tea to cook fish; we're in for a treat this time!"

The white dog lay on the ground and barked twice, then kept peeking into the pot.

"Xiaotian, go and fetch my bottle of dragon oil!"

"They even put dragon oil in it!"

The white dog barked happily, flicked its tail, and dashed away in a flash.

"I don't have much to offer, so I'll just bring some food and drinks to make up the numbers," Yang Jian emphasized. "This fish soup is somewhat nourishing and moisturizing, so please eat as much as you can, but don't eat too much or too little!"

"The True Lord's hospitality is impeccable!"

"True Lord possesses great magnanimity!"

"It's a pity Nezha didn't come, otherwise he would definitely be very happy to see Nezha!"

Li Tianwang and the others spoke up one after another. The conversation went from verbal sparring to physical confrontation, and then to discussing their own affairs. After going through all this, nothing made people happy. In the end, they chose to cook fish to entertain the guests and shut down all other topics.

Zhang Xuezhou knew perfectly well that Yang Jian was aloof and likely wanted to see the guest off but didn't want to say it outright, which is why he orchestrated this whole mess to clean up the situation.

Seeing that Li Tianwang and his group lacked any sense of propriety, Zhang Xuezhou also joined in as a bystander.

There wasn't much to eat besides fish cooked in tea, but he was interested in Yang Jian's dragon oil, wanting to see the nourishing and moisturizing benefits Yang Jian had mentioned.

"They're here!"

The white dog barked twice, and when it reappeared, it had a jar about half a person's height in its mouth.

The lid of the jar was removed, and Kang Taiwei scooped out a large ladleful of a solid substance resembling lard with a wooden spoon, then threw it directly into the iron pot.

It seemed that oil was being taken according to the number of people; after scooping out five ladles, Commander Kang finally stopped.

"And me too, give me a ladleful!"

After the white dog barked once, he glanced at Yang Jian again before adding another spoonful.

The white, oily substance floated in the boiling water, churning and rolling before finally dissolving.

Zhang Xuezhou thought he was about to be presented with a pot of culinary disaster, but as the oil melted and clung to the fish scales, the entire fish began to glow with golden light, as if it had transformed into the Golden Dragon Fish he had seen before.

These were clearly dead fish, half-cooked, but after being coated with dragon oil, they seemed to come alive, bobbing up and down in the boiling water, and even wagging their tails.

Zhang Xuezhou couldn't help but marvel at what he saw.

This gesture allowed Yang Jian to finally regain some face, avoiding the embarrassment of being humiliated as before.