The Difficulty of Living at Ease

Zhang Xuezhou was unable to obtain information about the Investiture of the Gods of the Gods from Laojun, but he obtained the answer from Celestial Venerable Yuanshi.

However, the answer was not what Zhang Xuezhou had expected.

The Investiture of the Gods wasn't hidden somewhere for him to steal; it was simply impossible to find.

Without the Investiture of the Gods the Gods, the shackles of the Void Heaven Palace could not be broken, and it would be difficult to use its power to suppress Donghua.

If things were merely a matter of not being able to target Donghua, it wouldn't be so bad. Zhang Xuezhou wouldn't necessarily need to borrow the power of the Void Heaven Palace. The real problem is that this is Houtu's Law Treasure. Once Houtu discovers its true nature, she will inevitably clash with Hongjun, and his head will become the battlefield.

Hongjun's suggestion to seek immortality of the soul was no joke; if these two were to clash, the probability of him being crushed to death would be 100%.

When great generals clash, lowly soldiers suffer. Houtu and Hongjun are the great generals in this battle, while Zhang Xuezhou is the lowly soldier caught in the crossfire. If he doesn't handle things properly, he will be attacked by the combined forces of the two.

"We must find the Investiture of the Gods, or a great calamity will befall the Three Realms!"

Zhang Xuezhou pondered for a few seconds before giving his serious advice.

He didn't even understand what the mallard had been babbling about before, and now he was using the Investiture of the Gods as a pretext for his own argument.

Zhang Xuezhou's words made Celestial Venerable Yuanshi somewhat uneasy, causing him to pace back and forth in the room.

"The key question is, what's the point of obtaining the Investiture of the Gods?" Celestial Venerable Yuanshi asked. "This Law Treasure has already been used once, and its effects were fully realized then. How could it possibly affect the safety of the Three Realms?"

"Let's find them first and then talk about it," Zhang Xuezhou suggested.

"We are unaware of Master's instructions, and our actions could easily lead to the opposite result," Celestial Venerable Yuanshi said earnestly. "If we handle things poorly, we might end up affecting the safety of the Three Realms!"

"But we can't just do nothing!"

"That's true!"

The Celestial Venerable Yuanshi was somewhat heartbroken, perhaps because the Great Zhou Dynasty had collapsed and few of the great cultivators of the Immortal Court were doing well.

Laojun split up, the Celestial Venerable Yuanshi failed at everything he did, accomplishing nothing in recent years. As for Celestial Venerable Lingbao, let's not even talk about him. He had long ago lost all his possessions and disciples due to choosing the wrong side, and was reduced to being all alone, with his personality becoming increasingly extreme.

This was true of several of the Immortal Court's leaders, not to mention the other great immortals.

Over the long years, many immortals have traveled far and wide in an attempt to prolong the lives of themselves and their families, only to watch helplessly as their wives, children, and sons die one by one, leaving them all alone. Many have gone insane, and most have their personalities distorted, making it difficult for them to maintain their former nature. Only a minority of cultivators can remain sane and normal.

Despite its seemingly enormous size, the Immortal Court was actually teetering on the brink of collapse.

The Celestial Venerable Yuanshi was genuinely worried that the reappearance of the Investiture of the Gods was intended to seal away the immortals of Immortal Court Immortal Court, which was the source of chaos.

But regardless of the situation, the things that have been mentioned still need to be done.

"I seem to recall hearing something about seclusion for five hundred years!"

When Celestial Venerable Yuanshi recounted the state of the Immortal Court and mentioned the potential calamities posed by the Investiture of the Gods the Gods, he couldn't help but casually mention it, thinking back to what the mallard had said.

"What seclusion? Who needs to go into seclusion? Who can go into seclusion for five hundred years? What will happen after seclusion? Did Master say anything else?" Celestial Venerable Yuanshi asked anxiously.

"I don't remember very clearly. Perhaps it was you who needed to go into seclusion, perhaps it was Celestial Venerable Lingbao, perhaps it was Laojun, or perhaps it was someone else. I don't know if there are any benefits to going into seclusion!"

Zhang Xuezhou spoke vaguely without confirming his answer.

His vague words actually made Celestial Venerable Yuanshi trust him even more. After all, this was the case when communicating with Hongjun. It was already quite remarkable that Zhang Xuezhou could remember some of the content.

"By the way, could we light some more incense to contact your master?"

Zhang Xuezhou suddenly remembered the need to avoid the potential danger of Hongjun communicating again, so he couldn't help but ask about the intervals between the conversations between Celestial Venerable Yuanshi and Hongjun.

"We used to receive messages from Master through the Jade Disc of Creation, but it became increasingly unreliable. Master changed our method of communication to one called 'Incense Offerings to Gods,'" Celestial Venerable Yuanshi lamented. "Offering incense to others is one thing, but offering incense to Master is truly difficult. Even in the Mi Luo Palace, I often forget to offer incense to Master. I need to repeatedly offer incense for ten years, or even longer, to burn the Ten Thousand Spirits Incense once. This matter is now difficult to carry out!"

"Well, for me... this kind of thing really makes me realize how difficult everything is!"

Zhang Xuezhou was pleased, but responded with a sigh.

It's difficult for him to do things, and it's not easy for Hongjun either.

Compared to this, Zhang Xuezhou felt that everyone was unlucky and few lived a carefree life.

With this thought of comfort in his heart, he suddenly felt that everything he had endured was not such a big deal.

"It is very difficult!" Celestial Venerable Yuanshi sighed heavily.

"Perhaps your master is also trying his best to solve this problem, Investiture of the Gods might be one of the factors!"

Zhang Xuezhou, through a roundabout approach, eventually steered the matter back on track by offering words of comfort.

The Three Realms and Four Continents are vast and boundless. It would be one thing for Zhang Xuezhou to fly there once, but asking him to search for something in these places would be as difficult as ascending to heaven, even if it were limited to West Ox Hezhou.

At that moment, he could only turn to Celestial Venerable Yuanshi for help, hoping that these great immortals could make things simpler.

"We definitely need to give it a try!"

After spending more than half a month to get this result, Celestial Venerable Yuanshi was undoubtedly somewhat unwilling.

But Zhang Xuezhou had been driven to madness by the previous torment, his mind was in a daze and he could barely walk steadily. Only now has he returned to normal, and even the Celestial Venerable Yuanshi is helpless against him.

Zhang Xuezhou's normalcy also corresponds to the fact that Hongjun's influence has almost disappeared, and it is currently impossible to extract more content from him.

The only thing he could confirm was that Zhang Xuezhou had passed through the ordeal right under Hongjun's nose and had not been identified as a demon.

After roughly understanding the situation, Celestial Venerable Yuanshi did not linger too long in Zixiao Palace.

He agreed to Zhang Xuezhou's request and then stood up.

"To find the Investiture of the Gods, we need to rely on my former student, Taiyi. He attempted to leave his divine soul on the painting to gain a different kind of immortality, but unfortunately, he failed. However, his remnant soul after death transformed into a demon through the painting," said Celestial Venerable Yuanshi. "The Investiture of the Gods is also a treasured painting, so the probability of it identifying its own kind is very high!"

"That's right!"

Zhang Xuezhou casually agreed.

He pondered the fate of the painting demon at the Eastern Heavenly Gate, and couldn't help but sigh. He could only wait until the Celestial Venerable Yuanshi failed to find the painting demon and then think of another method.

"You will come with me to the Eastern Heavenly Gate, and then use the gate to return to the Immortal Court. I promised to give you some cultivation items to help you enter the True Self Realm, and I cannot refuse to do so!"

"That's wonderful!"

Zhang Xuezhou stood up happily.

Having a powerful cultivator from a sect behind you is indeed different. The cultivation resources that Zhang Xuezhou had to work hard to obtain were not only basically useless to Celestial Venerable Yuanshi and others, but they could also be given away without hesitation.

He rarely encountered such a generous and forthright great cultivator as Celestial Venerable Yuanshi, and upon meeting him, he couldn't help but feel a sense of joy, as the barriers between them, caused by their different ages and power levels, were greatly reduced.

"You don't doubt whether the gift I gave you is suitable for you!"

When Celestial Venerable Yuanshi found amusement in his suffering, he couldn't help but laugh. He felt that Zhang Xuezhou was also naive and trusted him too much, without questioning whether the cultivation items Zhang Xuezhou had given him could be used appropriately.

"The gift from the Celestial Venerable must be of exceptional quality. If it is not suitable for me, then it must be my fault!"

Zhang Xuezhou replied with a smile, which pleased Celestial Venerable Yuanshi greatly.

He didn't continue pulling, but instead guided the jade ruyi upwards towards the secret place.

The canopy created by the array was pulled open, revealing pale blue seawater. He and Zhang Xuezhou leaped upwards, and the Purple Cloud Palace quickly turned into a reflection and receded. When they took another step forward, the two landed steadily on a reef in the sea.